VG Heroes: Defenders of the Game World
by The Aeon Offspring
Summary: The worlds on the other side of the screen are in peril. Glitches have started to corrupt the land and those who live in them. Princess Amethyst, Hero of Gemworld, has been called in to help solve the problem. However, two new boys also end up coming with her, obtaining powers that will help her save the Game World! Co-written with OathToOblivion.
1. Episode 1

_**OathToOblivion**_ **: So we basically had nothing better to do when we made this, right?**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Well, I wanted to get back into story writing and figured writing with a guy I knew would be the easiest way to do it.**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: I guess. Admittedly, I wanted to do the same as well. ...But I honestly also never have anything better to do,** _ **so…**_

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ _ **:**_ **Welp, we're doing it, so might as well make it an enjoyable ride. Right?**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: That just goes without saying, yeah. Hope you guys out there enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **VG Heroes: Defenders of the Game World**_

 _ **Episode 01 - Unexpected Arrivals in the Game World**_

"Okay," a sixteen year old girl said to herself as she finished getting dressed and looked at her mirror. Her blonde hair that had a hint of strawberry blonde coloring was poofy and had her bangs centered to the middle of her forehead. Just the way she liked it!

As usual, she had on her glasses which seemed to slide a bit to where they looked like they were under her eyes. Said eyes were an odd color: purple.

Today, she decided to dress in a white shirt with purple short sleeves. It was the type of shirt that also had longer grey sleeves stitched under the short ones. The chest area of the shirt had a large purple heart design.

If one were to look in her closet, they'd find that almost all of her clothes had the color purple.

She wouldn't admit it, though.

To finish today's outfit, she had on blue jeans and converse shoes… which were purple.

"You've done bigger things than this. Going back to school isn't a big deal," she kept telling herself, and she was almost starting to believe it, too.

Almost.

"Amy! Are you done?" the girl's mother called out.

"Yeah! Almost, mom!" Amy Winston replied as she picked up her, surprisingly, red backpack. "Oh, almost forgot!" She went to her desk and pocketed her 3DS. Gotta have something to do before class starts, after all.

With that, Amy left her house and got in her mom's car, anxious for her first day back in high school.

* * *

 _Meanwhile..._

' _Guuuuhhh, I can't go back to sleep,'_ a young man thought to himself as he laid on his bed, a sleep mask covering his eyes.

' _I haven't been woken up by my dad yet, so it must be a bit early.'_ He thought things were a bit odd, though. For starters, he felt the most rested he had been in a long time!

Which was odd considering he had so much trouble sleeping, because he _always_ had trouble going to sleep on Monday nights.

"Might as well get up now…" he muttered to himself.

As he got into the bathroom, he only now noticed the changes that've happened to him.

"What in the-?!" He backed up against the wall at his reflection, _'M-my body, my hair!'_

He couldn't help but touch his smaller stomach. "H-HOW?!" He wasn't exactly fat, but this was a significant amount of weight lost!

Not only that, but his very dark brown hair was also longer, and significantly less curly…

' _Th-this isn't unwelcome, but…. HOW?!'_

The ride to school didn't do him any favors in calming down.

' _Mom's here… she's supposed to be away at Panama until around the end of May!'_ That's not counting the fact that he's been aged back to 16 and both him and his entire family's names have changed!

' _Rhodel "Rhody" Westwood… what the heck kind of a name is that?!'_ Rhody felt like he might get beaten up for having a name like that!

' _Guh, whatever. I may have to redo the 10th grade, but at least this school's modernized,'_ he thought while glancing at the laptop in his bag.

Rhody originally thought that this was some sort of Self-Insert Scenario… and he still did, but some things just weren't right.

For starters, the things that would usually be next to him when he woke up, a Weapon or Transformation Device, weren't there.

He still had his White WizarDriver from Kamen Rider Wizard, but that was still a toy.

Something… just felt wrong...

* * *

' _Something...is not right,'_ another young man, who lived further north of the other one, decided as he got on the bus.

Let's see...being deaged to 16, being sent back to high school because of that, the world still being as modern as it was supposed to be even though this had happened…

The fact that his family's entire _names_ were different…

Yep, all the boxes on the weird-o-meter were being checked off for him.

' _Chris Collins...that's got to be one of the most generic names I have ever heard…'_ he decided.

Usually, this'd be the cue for him to be in some kind of self-insert scenario like the ones he had written in the past. He'd half-expected equipment of some kind to be sitting next to him.

However, he had yet to find anything of the sort so far. Something was definitely off…

' _At least I'll be able to fix the mistakes I made in college…'_

* * *

The High School was just that, a high school.

Various kids were milling about, talking to each other or on their school issued computers, messing about on what sites weren't blocked by the school.

' _Hopefully they fixed all the issues that could happen with a digital curriculum…'_ Rhody thought as he walked towards what he was pretty sure was his first period class. That's what it said on his schedule.

' _I was about to graduate, why must my suffering continue!?'_ He kinda felt like crying right now at having to relive his high school life. The only things that made it bearable before was the few friends that he had.

But now? He wasn't exactly the social sort, so making new friends would be kinda hard…

Rhody sat down near the door to his first class of the day and sighed.

This was gonna be a long day…

' _Well, this might not be as long a day as I thought,'_ Chris thought to himself, looking at the laptop that was apparently issued to him by the _school_ of all things.

...Granted, it wasn't the first time he'd been through something like that. Back when he'd _actually_ been in high school, he'd gotten his own laptop for use at the science magnet school he'd gone to every other day.

But that had been shared with someone who came in on the opposite day from him. This was a laptop specifically assigned to _him._

It was weird, to put it lightly, but he wasn't going to complain _just_ yet.

One thing he did note as strange, though, was that he was _still_ the person he usually was on the Internet. The only difference was that the RPs he'd created, not to mention the others he had played in...they didn't exist.

"I'm half-tempted to talk to the guys on SB about this…" he muttered under his breath.

But...they probably wouldn't believe him.

But he knew who would.

"Come on, Joker, be awake right now…" Chris muttered, heading over to .

As he did this, someone else came into the classroom.

It was a girl. A glasses wearing blond that, with the way she dressed, looked like she loved the color purple. She wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings as she took a seat, due to playing her 3DS and wearing earbuds.

Meanwhile, Chris had failed to get in contact with the person he had wanted to get in contact with.

' _Dang it, Joker, why do you have to be weird with when you're not around?!'_ he thought in exasperation.

Looks like he wasn't going to be able to talk to anyone about his situation at the moment…

"Typical," he sighed, casting his gaze around.

About the only noteworthy thing he could see was the girl playing her 3DS. From the sound of it, it was Smash Bros.

' _Which I don't have the 3DS version of...not that I_ brought _my 2DS in the first place...that reminds me that I still need to get Corrin and Bayonetta for the Wii U version,'_ he abruptly remembered.

Since he was 16 again now...maybe it'd be easier to convince his parents?

Well, nothing to do now but read Fanfiction…

Time passed, and the warning bell for classes to start rang out. The girl heard and began to put her things away. She jumped a bit in surprise at the fact that someone else was here, but otherwise paid no mind.

So, the first day of school began.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

In another world, closely connected to our own, blue data streamed down the walls of a sort of central nexus connecting the different realms of the other world.

It was calm, and peaceful, aside from the occasional passerby on their way from one realm to visit their friends in another.

But one person in particular noticed something...unusual.

Every now and then, the light blue walls of the nexus would abruptly flash to a violent red, junk code filling the walls.

It would revert back in a fraction of a second, but every time it happened, the coding seen in the regular walls was slightly corrupted.

It was beginning to add up...

" _Well then...this might be a problem,"_ Biometal Model X mused to himself.

Indeed it was, because suddenly alarms started blaring all across the space, startling the few that were there.

And strange figures started emerging from the ground in streams of corrupt coding.

Model X's eyes widened. He'd heard reports about these creatures, but they were getting into the central nexus?!

Just then, one of the glitchy figures, resembling one of Neo Arcadia's Pantheons, turned its optic on a little rabbit girl, who was trembling in fear.

Well, there was only thing he could do now.

In a flash of light, Model X zoomed towards her...before transforming back into his true form, obliterating the Pantheon with a Charged Shot from his Mega Buster Mk. XVII.

Standing in front of the rabbit girl was X Light, better known as Mega Man X.

"M-Mr. X…" she said in relief and some fear.

"Go home, Cream. Run as fast as you can. I'll take care of them," X said seriously, turning his attention to the remaining glitchy figures. Unlike the Pantheon, they didn't deign to reveal what they actually looked like, rushing at him.

As Cream the Rabbit ran back to her own realm, X sighed. _'Looks like they're not giving me much choice in the matter,'_ he thought to himself, before leaping into action.

* * *

 _Earth, a few hours later…_

' _Welp, gotta give it to this place. This school's more unique than my old one,'_ Rhody thought as he walked across the school grounds, other students milling about.

School had just ended a bit earlier than usual. This was due to wanting to give students an opportunity to explore the various clubs they had on campus.

' _I'll never understand how those robotics guys do it,'_ he thought to himself as he walked, pamphlet in hand. _'The Directory said the Game Club would be in the 500 building…'_

' _Let's see, it's here, and I see some people gathering around into the room, too.'_

There were a few people, enough to where it looked like the Club wouldn't get pulled for lacking members. One of them was a blond who was wearing purple and another was a dark skinned fellow who had a red jacket and a blue Mario shirt under it, along with beige cargo pants.

' _Ah, there are some nice shirts,'_ Rhody thought as he looked at his purple Encoding Vile shirt and brown khakis.

"It's nice to meet some of my people after a long day at school," he joked as he walked up to the door, getting the attention of the girl and boy.

"Um, thanks? I… like your shirt," the blond complimented, not knowing how to respond to the previous comment.

"Thanks." _'Woo hoo, first positive interactions of the day!'_

Said dark-skinned fellow, as it turned out, was Chris.

He had been going to go home right as class had let out, but his mom had called him and said that under no circumstances was he _not_ joining a club this year.

' _I knew it…'_

And now this guy had appeared, being a weirdo...he wasn't sure what to say, honestly…

"So…" _'Aw crap, ran out of things to say.'_ "My name's Rhody, what are yours?"

"Amy…" the girl said, voice not exactly loud.

"Um...it's...Chris," Chris mentioned, although it was hesitant. It wasn't like it was normally his name, after all…

"Right…" _'Okay, things have shifted onto awkward…'_ "So, what are you guys thinking about this club?"

"Well, it looks nice," Amy began, "It'd be nice to practice Smash with actual people, that's for sure."

"Honestly, I didn't want to join any clubs," Chris admitted. "But my mom insisted, and anyway it's a Video Game thing, so I guess it's fine…" he started mumbling.

"I can sorta say the same. I'm more likely just to go home most of the time due to being busy." Rhody remembers the reason why he stopped attending clubs in the first place, school work.

"Um…" Chris had no idea what to really say. He wasn't one to really talk to people who he didn't know...and he didn't know either of them. Given the whole situation he was in as well...well, it was pretty obvious that he was kinda out of it.

"So..." Surprisingly, it was Amy that broke the ice, "what games do you like, Chris?"

"Um...I guess anything Nintendo-related?" Chris mentioned.

"Well, I was more talking about specific genres, but it's nice to see someone who hasn't jumped ship when it comes to Nintendo," she said, seemingly more comfortable in talking about this.

"What about you, Amy?" Rhody asked the blond.

"Well, I honestly prefer Retro-Styled RPGs," she admitted. "It's what I like to make when messing around with my computer."

Chris blinked in surprise. "You... _make_ games?"

"Eh?" _'Oh no, I didn't mean to say that!'_ "W-well, it's just something I do for fun…" She looked away, blushing a bit and rubbing her shoulder.

"That's still really cool!" Rhody admitted.

"Please not so loud…" Amy looked like she's blushing a bit harder.

"Well...I mean, it is cool. I doubt I'd be able to do anything like that…" Chris complimented.

"That's not entirely true. I'm sure you could make a ball rolling game in Unity or Unreal Engine… Granted, those need tutorials for anyone not familiar with them, but still," Rhody admitted.

"You make games, too?" Amy questioned.

"More like _try_ to make games. My attempts were rather… eh. I just stick with tutorials on Youtube until I get the hang of things." _'I'm not in Tech School, here, so this is a good enough excuse.'_

"I guess that's kinda neat…" Amy mutters.

There was a bit of an awkward pause, as no one had anything else to say.

' _...Awkward.'_

* * *

X dodged under the blast from the last one of the glitch creatures. He had scorch marks across his armor, but he had just about wrapped things up.

All he had to do was deal with this, and…

Wait, where'd it go?!

 **-SNRK-**

"Guh-!" X got his answer in the form of a blade that was inserted into his back, drawing sparks as well as synthetic fluids.

The suddenly-appearing glitch creature seemed to let off a staticy chuckle, driving the blade further into X's frame. For a moment, X could have sworn he had seen a certain (Σ) symbol in the creature's eyes.

X gritted his teeth in pain, and narrowed his eyes in determination. He started glowing with energy, causing the creature to panic. It withdrew its sword, about to try to attack X again before he could do anything…

...But X grabbed its hand, ignoring the damage the direct contact was doing to his arm.

"Giga... **CRUSH!"** he roared, a burst of light and energy erupting from his body and obliterating everything around him in the blink of an eye.

As the light died down, those few bystanders all decided to head for the hills, retreating back to their own realms.

As for X...he had reverted to Model X, who was sparking intermittently.

" _Ekh...that's not good,"_ he noted. _"I had that much trouble with them, and because of that last attack, I've lost access to my Reploid form. Given the circumstances...I have no choice. I have to call her,"_ he decided.

* * *

' _Welp, I guess that was okay,'_ Rhody thought as he walked to the student pick up.

The club looked fun enough, so he decided to sign up for it. Though he doesn't know if he can attend every meeting.

' _I guess it was alright…'_ Chris decided. He wasn't sure about the whole club thing, though. Last time he'd gone to one was in middle school, and…

...Well, he honestly didn't remember much of it.

Amy was walking there as well, only lagging behind significantly due to focusing on her 3DS.

"Huh?" The top screen was starting to go to static. "What the-?" Amy tried to smack it a couple of times to get it working again, to no luck. _'Oh no, am I gonna have to buy a new one?'_

Suddenly, a white light started to emit from the screen, forcing Amy to close her her eyes.

The sudden light, plus noises, attracted Chris's attention. "Huh?" he wondered, turning around to see the light emitting from the 3DS.

"...Okay, I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to do that," he decided.

"Not supposed to do _whhaaaaaaaa-?_ " Rhody was now gaping at the lightshow.

"Guys, why are you two the only ones noticing this besides me?!" Amy yelled as she looked at the other now distant students.

"Huh? What are you talking abou-Oh dammit, is it one of these scenarios?!" Rhody cursed as he looked back. "Amy, drop or toss the thing!"

' _Oh man oh man oh man oh man-!'_ Chris thought in alarm as he realized where Rhody's thoughts were going.

But another thought crossed through his mind for a fleeting second. _'Maybe this is why I've woken up like this?'_

Meanwhile, Amy decided to do what Rhody said, and toss the 3DS, though with hesitance.

Unfortunately, this did not stop the light, as it grew brighter and enveloped all three of them, game handheld included…

* * *

If Chris could compare the portal he, Amy and Rhody were going through, it would be like the ones from Doctor Who's opening sequences.

' _We even have someone named Amy with us!'_ he thought deliriously.

Amy, meanwhile, unlike the other two, wasn't so much delirious, as she was more panicking.

' _Why, why is this happening again!?'_ She had already saved Gemworld, hadn't she? Did Dark Opal come back, or did a new threat appear?

The worst part is that she had accidently gotten two uninvolved guys into this.

The three made impact with the ground with a loud thump.

"Oooohh, anyone feel nauseous right now?" Rhody asked as he tried to get up, with minimal success.

"Owwwwwww…" Chris groaned, having landed face first.

At least he hadn't broken his glasses…

"I'm just glad we're okay…" Amy said as she got up, surprisingly quick compared to the others. "Woah." One look at the place made her eyes go wide.

This _definitely_ wasn't Gemworld.

Rather than a medieval-esque countryside, it was instead a futuristic looking city, with data streaming up into the sky.

It looked like...some kind of central nexus or something.

"What is this place?" Chris asked as he got back onto his feet.

"I have no clue…" Amy answered, looking around the place in awe.

"Um, guys." Rhody yelled as he stalked back. "Uh, what's happening over there?"

A wall was glowing red, data looking like it was… _corrupting_.

"That...doesn't really look good," Chris decided, worried. First they get pulled in who knows where, now this?

The corruption wasn't stopping though. It was increasingly infected the wall in front of them…

...And then it hit the floor and began creeping towards them.

' _Uh-oh,'_ was the thought that ran through all three of their heads.

"Friggin' RUN AWAY!" Rhody screamed as he hot footed in the opposite direction of the corruption. Chris and Amy did not need to be told twice.

"WHAT EVEN IS GOING ON?!" Chris yelled, running as fast as he could. He abruptly remembered that he didn't really have much actual stamina...but considering what was behind them, he couldn't exactly _stop._

"DON'T STOP DON'T STOP DON'T STOP!" Amy had already gotten in front of the two boys, running faster than either of them.

' _How the heck is she that fast?!'_

"Guys-Guys wait up!" Rhody wheezed. "I'm not- _*WHEEZE*_ -not exactly fit, here!" The corruption was getting closer! It would start to nip at his heels at this rate!

The three kept running as fast as they could, before Rhody tripped due to his exhaustion.

"Rhody!" Amy heard the thump from his fall, and ran back to try and get him away. It was almost at him!

...And then it just stopped short of him by a half a foot.

" _*WHEEZE*_ Am- _*WHEEZE*_ -am I dead?"

Chris panted in exhaustion. "Thankfully, no..." he said in relief...and exhaustion.

' _But what's even going on?!'_

Amy grabs Rhody's arms and with some effort, drags him away from the area they ran away from.

"Th...thanks," he panted out. "Hey… uh, I don't think I can move my legs, so-"

"I'm not gonna drag you around," Amy quickly told the exhausted boy with a glare.

"Yeah… that's fair," Rhody sighed as he dragged himself to a wall to try and get up, but was then assisted by Amy. "Um, I know that this is a city, but it's more like a ghost town when actually looking around…"

"Yeah…" Chris agreed, doing just that. "Seriously, what _is_ this place?" he wondered.

" _The central nexus of Game World...or at least, it's supposed to be,"_ a voice rang out, startling Chris. And only Chris.

He swiveled around in shock, seeing the floating thing in front of him. He _recognized_ it. "M-Model X?" he said in shock.

"Model whaaaaAAAAOH MY GOSH!" Amy covered her mouth in shock and practically had stars in her eyes. The same could be said for Rhody.

" _Huh, you heard me. Not many people can hear me like this,"_ Model X noted. _"Anyway, you should probably tell your friends what it is I'm saying."_

"U-Uh...r-right," Chris agreed nervously.

He was speaking to Biometal Model X...the container for the soul of _Mega Man_ X…

"G-Guys...X...apparently only I can hear him, b-but he said this was the central nexus of s-some place called Game World," he relayed

"Huh?!" Amy gave Chris a very surprised look. _'I-is this like Gemworld, then?'_

"Wait, if you can hear X…" Rhody couldn't believe it. Chris was-!

" _Looks like your friend has cottoned on,"_ Model X observed. _"The fact that you are able to hear me means that you might be a Biomatch for me."_

"W-WHAT?!" Chris said in shock. How the hell was _he_ of all people compatible with _X?!_ There's no way!

"I'm guessing X just told him what I was thinking," the other boy muttered.

"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!" Meanwhile, Amy seemed to be having the opposite of a panic attack.

"H-How can I be a Biomatch with you?!" Chris said, completely floored.

" _It's an interesting question,"_ Model X agreed. _"You don't have any cybernetics to bridge the gap between Reploid and human, but you can still hear me. Anyway, we're getting side-tracked,"_ he realized. _"Sorry for calling you all here so suddenly. Although I have to admit, I wasn't expecting three of you…"_

Chris hastily relayed this to the others, although he was slightly floored. _X_ was the reason this had happened?

' _Wasn't expecting three of-'_ "Oh…" Amy was starting to see why they were here. "Um, X, if I can call you X, did… did you mean to only bring _me_ here?"

"What are you talking about, Amy?" Rhody questioned. _'What would X want with someone like her?'_

"Huh?" Chris blinked in confusion.

X was silent for a moment, before bobbing up and down in the air. _"I'm sorry you had to get dragged into things again, Princess Amethyst,"_ he apologized. _"But Gemworld was not the only part of the Game World you were meant to help."_

"...Wait, what?! Amy's a princess?!" Chris said, completely floored yet again.

"Don't know what you just said, but judging from Chris' reaction, you know who I am." she scratched the back of her head, not exactly wanting to reveal this type of thing. "So, uh, over the summer, I kinda got sucked into the video game I made and turns out I'm a Princess there. I got pulled in to stop the villain I made, Dark Opal, who, due to a glitch in my game, ended up crashing it every time a player went to beat him…"

"...What." Rhody was… giving her a rather flat look. Not that he didn't believe her just… this sounded remarkably similar to something, he just couldn't remember what.

Chris's head was beginning to spin.

' _Okay, so Amy was some kind of princess...who got sucked into her own video game, and had to have some kind of adventure...and now X of all people needed her help. Where the heck does what happened to me fit into all this?! Am I dreaming?!'_

Still, he managed to regain enough composure to at least relay what X had said.

"Right… I figured I was needed for all this. I'll help anyway I can, X, but we should probably get these two guys back to Earth, first."

" _As much as I'd like to do just that...the situation I called you for has made travel back to Earth all but impossible right now."_

"...I shouldn't even be surprised at this point," Chris sighed, once again relaying the message.

"Great.." _'Okay, Amy, no need to start worrying,'_ she thought as she started looking through her backpack. _'I just hope it appeared-'_ "Aha!" Amy pulled out a tiara, one that had purple gemstones embedded into it, presumably amethysts. "Okay. X, do you have a base or something where these two can stay safe?"

" _Well, I do know of a building nearby that's safe enough. I'll show you where it is,"_ X mentioned.

Just as Chris had relayed that, the streams of coding in the air started flashing red again.

"OH THAT JUST FIGURES!" Rhody shouted.

"X, get those guys out of here!" Amy put the tiara in front of her. "I can take care of this."

Amy tapped the center gem, creating a bright flash of light surrounded her. Her glasses snapped in half. Tiara now on her head, she glew a radiant purple before appearing with her hair much longer and now a shade of orange. She also sported a purple battle dress, pieces of armor flashing onto her.

The whole thing seemed to come straight from a Magical Girl show, she even did a pose that wouldn't look too out of place in Sailor Moon.

Amy Winston had become Princess Amethyst.

" _...What?_ " Rhody stared in shock, mostly because he now remembered who Amy really was.

"Uh…" Chris was speechless.

" _No time to lose. Both of you, follow me!"_ X urged, flying in a specific direction.

"Right, just don't expect Sonic the Hedgehog speed here," Rhody remarked as he trudged on his still tired legs to where X was going. He could get the gist of what he needed him to do.

Amethyst tapped her hip guards, which made her Amethyst Sword and Shield appear in her hands. The Glitches were forming into what she recognized as Variants, from Mega Man Zero 4.

"Chris, hurry and get out of here!" She went charging in as more Variants started to form.

"U-Uh...r-right!" he said nervously, booking it along with Rhody.

A Variant Fire aimed at Amethyst and shot its energy pellets at her, but the Princess had lifted her shield in the nick of time, blocking the attack and slashing the Glitch in half.

She was given little reprieve as her eyes widened at a Variant Missile fired its rocket launcher five times at her, making her roll out of the way right into a Variant Claw! Amethyst raised her shield just in time to prevent the Glitch from hitting her. The Missile fired a salvo again, and the Princess rolled out of the way, making the explosives destroy the Claw!

Amethyst threw her blade at the Missile, making it blur into a disk. The Glitch fired again, but the sword was too close, causing an explosion.

That didn't end the Variant, but the blade in its head did.

She ran up to her weapon and retrieved it, just as new foes began to appear.

"These guys just keep coming, huh?" The Glitches were starting to take the shape of another Mega Man enemy, Galleons.

Their eyes flashed red as two Assaults leapt to attack the Princess.

* * *

Meanwhile, it was an odd sight to see two teens run after a flying object. However, no one else was around to really witness it.

"How much- _*HUFF*_ -farther?!" Rhody wasn't so much as running as he was hobbling.

" _Not long,"_ Model X mentioned. It wasn't much longer until the two of them ended up running into a nearby building, which seemed safe enough.

"Right… rest… glorious rest…" The out of shape boy collapsed on a nearby seat.

Meanwhile, the other out of shape one did the same. "Hah...Hah...what do...we do now?" Chris questioned.

" _Hm...those Glitches are getting worse,"_ Model X said to himself.

"Huh? Glitches?" Chris wondered in confusion. What the heck was X talking about?

" _Those Variants you saw form from that corrupted data. Those were in fact Glitches. They've been running rampant all over the Game World for quite some time now, but this is the first time they've appeared in the central nexus. That's why I needed to call Princess Amethyst in. I'm sorry I dragged you two into this as well,"_ X apologized.

"What's he saying, Chris?" Rhody asked, still sounding worn out.

"Um...he mentioned that those Variants were apparently some kind of Glitch or something."

" _Greeeeeaaaat…_ " He didn't look too pleased with that as he rubbed his legs. "As long as those things are around, then we're stuck here…"

There was a bit of a pause until Rhody broke it by asking, "There were a lot of them back there… Ya think Amy can handle?"

"I...well, X meant to call her in the first place, and she's apparently some kind of magical princess, so…" Chris said hesitantly.

"Yeah, but, she's still only one person…"

Chris was conflicted. He didn't want to leave someone alone to fight off a horde of monsters, but…

At the same time, there was no way he'd be able to do anything about it.

Unless…

"Hey, uh, X? You said that I'm a Biomatch for you, right?" he asked.

" _You are,"_ the Biometal agreed, _"But leaving aside the fact that I don't want you two to get hurt, you also don't have any cybernetics, which will make a Megamerge all but impossible at the moment."_

"Oh...um...how come?" Chris questioned.

" _The reason Megamerging could be done by both humans and Reploids in my own world is because there was almost no distinction between the two anymore. So they could read the data contained in the Biometals just as easily. You, however, are completely baseline human. You have no way of actually reading the data contained within me. If I try to just send it into your brain without some kind of cybernetics that it's already accustomed to, it might cause severe mental damage."_

"...Oh."

"...Well? I'm guessing that's a no?" Rhody impatiently inquired.

"Um...no. Something about mental damage if I try to do it without cybernetics," Chris mumbled.

"Oh. I'm guessing it's because you're not a cyborg or somethin'..." He got up and started to pace around the room. "Are there no other options?"

X was conflicted. On the one hand, he didn't want to drag innocents into this fight. Bad enough that he'd had to call Amethyst, really.

But on the other hand...they wanted to do something to help, and so did he. _"Well…"_ he started.

Suddenly, banging was heard at the entryway, along with the sounds of fired shots.

"Oh crap, they're here!"

This was the worst-case scenario for X. He had no choice now.

In order for them to get through this, he would have to give them the ability to fight.

" _Chris, over there,"_ X said, angling towards a star-shaped object on the far side of the room. _"Tell Rhody to go over to there."_

"U-Uh, right!" Chris nodded, slightly panicking as he did just that.

"Crap, what we gonnaaawwhat is that?" Is, is that what Rhody thought it was?!

If he thought that it was a Warp Star, from the Kirby series, his guess would be correct. It looked kind of dim, though...until he walked up to it.

X floated to a wall near the Warp Star, and a space began to glow brightly.

A hidden compartment opened, revealing… some sort of belt.

It reminded Rhody of Mega Man ZX's codpieces for the Mega Men, only without the actual codpiece and… a space in the center for something to be inserted…

' _This is starting to get really familiar… it's… almost like-'_ The sounds of something breaking rang from the entryway, they were running out of time!

"X, what is that?" Chris asked hurriedly.

" _A last resort. In the event that the only Biomatch in range is a purely biological being, and cannot get the necessary cybernetics in time, this belt, the Bio Adapter, will bypass the need for said cybernetics, allowing one to use my power. I take no joy in having to do this, but take the belt, Chris. It might be our only way out of this."_

"U-Um...I...I dunno, I…" Chris was rudely interrupted by an explosion from the entrance to the building.

" _Hurry! You may not have much more time! Use that belt to perform a Megamerge!"_ X urged.

"I…" Chris's head was in complete turmoil after all that was going on.

But...two facts remained clear. He didn't want to die...and he didn't want Rhody to die either. In the end, what else was there left to do?

Gritting his teeth, he scooped up the belt, snapping it on. Then, he grabbed Model X out of the air. "Here goes...something!" he said, plucking up his courage.

Then he shouted something very familiar at the top of his lungs. "MEGAMERGE!" he roared, slotting X into place in the Bio Adapter.

" **Biolink established! M.E.G.A. System: Online!"** X stated audibly, a bright light filling the entire building.

Rhody uncovered his eyes when the light died down, and couldn't help but gape at the site.

Where Chris once stood, a new figure was there. He was virtually identical to Mega Man Model X, but with three differences.

The helmet was now completely closed off, covered by a white mouth guard section of armor while the eyes were covered with something that seemed like green glass, but was undeniably sturdier.

On the chest was torso armor very similar to the Original X's, only colored black. Worn over it was a blue jacket that had shoulder pads that also bared a resemblance to X's, matching the color scheme of the jacket.

Finally, wrapped around his waist was the Bio Adapter, bearing Model X on the front proudly.

"K… Kamen Rider Model X…" Rhody couldn't help but mutter in awe.

Chris, now Model X, had never experienced anything like this before… He felt more awake right now than he ever did in his entire life! And just flinching carried a weight of power…

"T-This is…" the new Mega Man...no, new _Rider_ said, looking at himself. "X...is this your power?"

" _Somewhat, but a lot of it is simply you. I've taken over your important bodily functions, leaving a majority of your body's energy freed up for you to use,"_ the Biometal stated.

"This is...me?" Chris said, staring at his hands. Then he registered what Rhody said. "Wait... _Kamen Rider_ Model X? I look like...a Kamen Rider?" he asked in confusion. _'Why does something about that sound familiar?'_

Just then, an explosion was heard within the entryway, and the footsteps of a lot of beings could be heard.

"Oh crap! Chris, we gotta get out, yesterday!" A hatch right above the Warp Star opened up, leading to the roof.

' _Good point! Question it later!'_ "Right!" the Blue Mega Man declared. Grabbing Rhody, he leapt onto the Warp Star, which immediately flew out the roof.

" _ **EEYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!**_ " While not going faster than light, as the Warp Star is capable of, the thing still exerted large amounts of G-Force onto Rhody.

He didn't know whether to be panicked or be treating this like one of the most terrifying roller coasters ever…

* * *

Back with Princess Amethyst, she was panting as the last Glitch dissipated into data, a bit scuffed up from the battle.

This… had been more difficult than the fights in Gemworld. The opponents there were nowhere near this fierce.

But she had managed to beat them, now to go find Chris, Rhody and X.

However, there was one Galleon that had refused to completely scatter to data, only its upper portion left.

She had her back turned, so it took aim, charging up a shot with the last of its energy!

Then the Warp Star crashed right into it, destroying it as the transport slid on the ground.

"Huh?" Amy turned around to see a figure very similar to Model X and Rhody, hanging onto the guy for dear life. "Wait… Chris?!"

"Um, yes? Sorry for just dropping in like that…"

"WHOA!" She ran up to them and started to look around the armored boy. "I knew that you were able to do this just by being able to hear X, but it's really something else when actually seen!" she gushed.

Meanwhile, Rhody still hadn't let go of Model X, though he looked like he was trying to.

"Well, I mean...it's not that great, is it?" The new Blue Mega Man would have rubbed his helmet, but he found someone still clinging to him.

"Uh, dude?"

"I, uh, think my arms've locked up," Rhody stated as he tried to get off. He managed to do so, though he now looked like he was hugging himself.

"Um...do you...need a moment?" Chris asked awkwardly.

" _We may not get the chance,"_ X mentioned.

Corrupted data was starting to swarm together, from the fragments of the previously defeated to the ones that had invaded the building from earlier.

"I'm, uh…" Rhody managed to unlock his arms to where he hooked them around the Warp Star, "I'm just gonna get out of the way…" and with that, he ran to somewhere _not_ visible to the new enemy.

The data finished forming. While it was a bit scattered, the shape was solid enough to be recognizable.

Especially to X.

" _Vile…"_

Chris gulped in fear.

He was red and glitchy, like the other ones, but it was unmistakably the form of the psychotic ex-Maverick Hunter. He chuckled glitchily, before firing a rocket off directly at Chris.

Amethyst stopped the impact by positioning herself between them, shield raised. This created an explosion that launched her right into Model X!

"Oof!" Chris said, the wind knocked out of him as that happened.

Vile chuckled once more, walking forward menacingly.

"X-!" Chris said in fear.

" _Will the X-Buster to appear on your dominant arm, and it will appear! To fire, just focus!"_ X mentioned.

Chris did just that, the armor on his right arm configuring itself into said Buster. Focusing, he fired a few shots off at Vile.

He missed with most of them, but one hit him dead center of his helmet, stunning the Maverick slightly.

The Princess managed to get back up and charged in, blade in hand, and went to slash Vile's head!

Vile ducked under her swing, and parried it using his arm. But Chris started firing more Buster shots at him, annoying him severely.

Sure, his aim wasn't anywhere near good, but…

The Maverick blocked what shots hit him and he leaped back, then fired his entire left arm at Model X!

It hit, then made a go around to hit him again! The Rocket Punch wouldn't stop!

But the Princess took advantage of the enemy's lack of arms… or arm, and slashed his torso, sending sparks flying.

Vile staggered back, but adjusted his shoulder mounted cannon and fired a missile at Amethyst. She managed to block it with her shield, and didn't go flying back this time. But her arm definitely felt the force of that attack.

Chris had stumbled back upon being hit but it hadn't hurt as much as he had expected it to.

He...he had to do something! But what?

Just as he was beginning to panic again, a thought flashed through his head: a fact he had read on the Mega Man Wiki once.

 _Vile was weak to Charged Shots._

"X...how do I charge the Buster?" he quickly asked, seeing Amethyst being pushed back by the Maverick's attacks.

" _Focus as if you were about to shoot a regular shot, but let the energy build up. As a note, I have three levels of charge: a larger shot, an even bigger blast, and the third being two of the bigger blasts."_

"Right…" Chris began focusing for a Level 3 Charged Shot. Hopefully this would work…

Vile's arm returned to him and he started to fire machine gun bullets from his index finger at the Princess. The constant damage from earlier, along with the concentrated fire, were making the shield crack! The Maverick saw this and took a knee, revealing another cannon in it! He fired an electric ball at the shield and it shattered, leaving Amethyst open!

But it also left Vile open. Enough for a certain Blue Mega Man to make his move!

"EAT THIS!" he roared, firing the Level 3 Charged Shot straight at Vile. Vile...well, he didn't have conventional eyes, so he couldn't widen them. But he did make a panicked movement.

" _N-NoT a ChArGeD sHoT!"_ was let loose from his glitchy vocoder before the two blasts hit him straight on!

The blasts practically tore through him, but it didn't appear to be enough to finish him!

" _HAAAAAAAHH!_ " But with Amy charging in with her sword, it was. She bisected the Maverick right through the torso!

" _ **E-eEeEeExXxXxX!**_ " the adversary of Mega Man X yelled in his glitched out voice one more time before exploding!

"Ha...Ha…" Chris was panting from exhaustion again. That was...beyond anything he would have expected, really.

Amethyst collapsed onto the ground, exhausted from all the fighting. "Hah… glad… that's over…"

"Holy crap!" Rhody came running in, Warp Star still in hand, "I heard all the fighting, and saw the thing explode! Was that Vile?! Did you guys just defeat Vile?!" He was beyond stoked at all this.

"Um...apparently…" Chris couldn't really believe it, to be honest.

"Hehe… It _is_ really cool, when ya think about it..." Amy says with a small giggle.

"It _is_ really cool!" Rhody shouted before going out of breath. "Woo… man, this was… really adrenaline pumping. Starting to climb down…"

The Megamerge abruptly cut out, returning Chris to normal and letting X float off the Bio Adapter. Now he was _really_ feeling the exhaustion. "Tell me about it…"

" _I'm sorry you had to go through that,"_ X apologized. _"Fortunately, with Vile defeated, it looks like the majority of those Glitches won't reappear."_

"I've been...meaning to ask...X, what even _are_ these Glitch things anyway?" Chris questioned.

X was silent for a moment. _"It's...complicated,"_ he admitted. _"It's not helped by the fact that there's more than one_ type _of Glitch either."_

"Y'know, Chris, I'd love to hear ya interpret what X is saying to ya, but now that the problem's taken cared of, ya think we can go home now?" Rhody questioned. That's usually how this works, right? Fix the problem then you're able to leave?

" _Ordinarily, you'd be able to. The main problem...is_ that _."_ X pointed out the red Corrupted Zone that was still there.

"...I'm gonna need to fix that, aren't I?" Amethyst stated while trying to get back up, only to collapse. "Just… give me a second…"

"How'd you...be able...to fix that?" Chris wondered.

"Well, we defeated Vile, and those Glitches stopped attacking us, so we just need to defeat whatever's causing the Corrupted Zone."

"That's easier said than done, especially with how you are now," Rhody said while trying to get the Warp Star to hover. He finally managed to do it and set it near Amy, who he put onto it with some effort. "Guh, right now, I think we should take a break, if we can…"

" _I'm not detecting any more Glitches nearby. We should be safe for the moment,"_ X said, and Chris relayed.

"Good. Let's go find a place to pass out for a while. You two definitely look like ya need it."

"You sure _you_ don't need it more?" Amy joked at Rhody's current shaky legged state.

"Quiet, you."

The group went back to the building on tired legs, the current trials won.

But they would only get more difficult in the following day…

* * *

The Corrupted Zone was devoid of all natural light, lit only by the red that shrouded it.

The cause of all this stood, waiting for the ones fighting it off to come right to him.

Soon, they will be defeated, and the entire Nexus will be corrupted…

" _YoU bEtTeR fIgHt HaRd…_ _ **X**_ _. i'M nOt HoLdInG bAcK aGaInSt YoU..._ "

 _ **Episode 01 - Fin**_

* * *

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Who could this guy be? We know it, but you guys don't. I'm eager to hear your theories.**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: Although, it might be slightly obvious if you consider certain things...but that's as far as I'll say regarding that. I'm wondering how many people are gonna be confused about the Warp Star?**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Probably a few. Though that will also be explained… Not in the next episode, though. That's focusing on the Corrupted Zone. I hope you all enjoyed this, and we'll see ya'll next time!**


	2. Episode 2

_**The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Heyo! Second Episode of VG Heroes is right here! Though you probably already figured that by the title…**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: This** _ **may**_ **be a bit of a Wham...maybe? I dunno...it** _ **is**_ **the first Boss Fight, though!**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Do we mean like getting hit? Do we mean the rock band? You'll just have to read and find out! Hope you guys enjoy.**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: Yeah! ...Wait, there's a band named Wham?**

* * *

 _ **VG Heroes: Defenders of the Game World**_

 _ **Episode 02 - The Corrupted Zone**_

"Amy… Amy." Rhody shook the girl's shoulder, trying stir her awake. "...Yeah, she is completely conked out."

They had made it back to the building X had taken Chris and Rhody, and thankfully, there was an area within it that had enough couches that'd fit them.

Chris flopped onto one of the couches, exhausted...and his mind brimming with questions.

For starters, what the hell was even going on? Oh, sure, X had said that he needed to call Amy to deal with this and everything, but what was with the Bio Adapter thing? What was with the random Warp Star?

And...why did Rhody call him a Kamen Rider? Chris'd be the first to admit that the concept of Kamen Rider was kinda obscure to most people in the Western Hemisphere. It wasn't... _impossible_ for two unrelated Kamen Rider fans to have been pulled into this, but…

And there were still a few things not adding up about that. Sure, his Megamerge with X looked different than the form he was used to from the ZX games, but it didn't outright _scream_ Kamen Rider…

...Well, Chris supposed the only way to find out would be to actually ask.

"Hey, Rhody...why did you call me a Kamen Rider before?" he questioned.

"Huh?" Rhody had flopped onto his own couch and started to rub his sore legs when Chris asked that question. They'd be sore tomorrow, that's for sure.

"Oh, it's... nothing, but… Well, your Megamerged form looked pretty much how I pictured an 'Original,'" he said with air quotes, "Kamen Rider I came up with on a Forum."

"..." Chris stared at him blankly for a few moments, before groaning and facepalming, flopping back onto the couch. "Why am I not surprised at this point?" he muttered.

" _Chris?"_ X asked in confusion.

"Huh?" ' _Wait… Oh no, is he…'_

"How do we always get roped into these things, Aeon?" Chris questioned wearily.

"..." ' _Dark skinned, wears glasses…'_ "To be fair, none of my selves ever had this problem until I met you. Maybe you're a magnet for this stuff, Oath?" Rhody answered, now recognizing the friend he made online.

" _Would you two care to explain what you're talking about?"_ X questioned.

"Um...it's complicated, but the short answer is that we apparently already knew each other before today, and both of us got displaced from our own world into Amy's world," Chris summarized.

"Not to mentioned that we've been aged down to, what, sixteen?" Rhody added.

"Sounds about right."

" _That...sounds bizarre,"_ X noted. " _How exactly did that happen to you two?"_

"I have no idea," Chris admitted, shaking his head. "But...that's besides the point right now, isn't it?"

"Yeah, overall, this is one of the least bad ways of getting put into another world." Still having his parents and having a friend along for the ride made this easier, although Rhody still missed his old ones, though. "But Oath… Chris is right. Right now, getting out of here's the main concern, for me."

" _I suppose that's true,"_ X admitted, although he was still concerned that these two had apparently been ripped from their own world. " _But that won't be able to happen as long as that Corrupted Zone is active."_

"What even is it anyway?" Chris wondered.

" _You know how we fought that Corrupted Copy of Vile, right? Corrupted Zones are created when Glitches infect something or someone that's really powerful, and that corruption spreads in a manner similar to radiation."_

Chris winced. That sounded horrible, getting infested by whatever these Glitch things were in the first place. But…

"I don't suppose you know what got infected?"

" _Unfortunately, I don't,"_ X stated. " _The fact of the matter is, that one of these has formed in the central nexus is worrying."_

"Does X know where the Glitches even came from?" Rhody asked both Chris and X.

" _I don't. Though the fact that they're only showing up now implies that this isn't a natural phenomenon."_

Chris relayed all of that, then thought about it. "So...if the Corrupted Zone is being caused by someone infected by the Glitches…" he thought about it.

" _Defeating them and purifying them of the Glitches will return the area to normal, as well as open the path back to Earth. That's why I called Princess Amethyst here, since she has the power to do so,"_ the Biometal explained.

After Chris relayed the info, Rhody replied, "Well, that sounds fun. You and Amy have fun tomorrow."

With that said, he turned away from everyone on the couch and conked out, exhaustion making sleep easy.

Chris just sighed. It's not like he wanted to...but there was no point thinking about it. He didn't have a choice in the matter, at least as long as he wanted to make sure everyone got out of this okay.

With nothing else to do, he just went to sleep himself.

* * *

The next morning, everyone awoke at roughly the same time, X continuing to float there, watching.

"Guh. I slept in my cloths. I really wiiiiaaaaaa-?!" Rhody looked outside the window in shock.

"It's… gotten this close?" Amethyst mumbled to herself, also looking on.

"That's...not good," Chris said in worry.

An understatement, really, as the Corrupted Zone had come even closer to their position.

" _We most definitely have to do something about that,"_ X noted.

"How?! Am I right in assuming that _we'll_ get corrupted if we go in there ourselves?!" Chris asked, slightly hysterical.

" _So long as you're using me, then you shouldn't worry about being corrupted if we're quick about this."_ X reassured him. " _And Princess Amethyst's powers should counteract it to a greater extent than I can."_

While that was good to hear for Chris...he shot a look back towards Rhody. What if they couldn't stop it in time and he got caught in it himself?

" _...Chris. I understand your hesitance and your worries. I've often thought about all the possible ways a mission could go wrong, Zero would always call me a worrywort because of it,"_ the Biometal said to him. " _But right now, if you want to make sure your friend is safe, then you have to be sure you can do this."_

" _And you won't be alone in this."_ X bobbed towards Amy. " _Princess Amethyst and I will make sure we all make it out of this, you have my word."_

"...Alright," Chris nodded, although he was still slightly hesitant. Although, his interest was slightly caught by what he mentioned. "Um...speaking of, where _is_ Zero?"

" _Hm? Oh, honestly? I don't know where he is. He left a while ago to investigate the Glitches. I haven't heard back from him in a while. Don't need to worry about him, though. Zero always pulls through,"_ he said with conviction.

"Well, I guess we should take care of this now," Amethyst said, stretching out the rest of her sleepiness. "Really wish I could've showered first…" she muttered under her breath.

"Stepping into this thing seemed like a good idea at the time, huh?" Amy muttered as she stood near the Corrupted Zone.

"It's...not like we have any other choice, right?" Chris said awkwardly.

"Well… I guess the only thing I can say at this point is good luck?" Rhody gave a thumbs up, his face nervous as he hovered on the Warp Star, not wanting to get near the corruption.

"Okay… here goes!" Amethyst and Model X ran into the area and… they could already feel a pressure in the air. "Guh-!" the princess grunted as she adjusted to the change.

"It feels...toxic," Chris noted. "X, you're sure we're not gonna be affected?"

" _As long as you don't stay for too long. Princess Amethyst has more leeway in that than we do, though."_

"Let's hurry this up," Amy said while summoning her sword and shield. "I don't plan on getting corrupted today… or ever."

* * *

To say that the Corrupted Zone was dark would be an understatement. The whole place seemed to block out light, with only red outlines of the surrounds illuminating.

"I feel like we're in Tron. _Really_ creepy Tron."

"Well, that was a data world too, so…" Chris couldn't help but comment.

"Well then the comparison fits, doesn't it?" Amy remarked, trying to keep the atmosphere light. "So, uh, X, how much farther?"

" _Not too much, now. If I had to guess, we'll come to the source or-"_ Suddenly waves of energy launched toward Model X and Amethyst, forcing them to jump back. " _-it'll come to us."_

"Of course…" Chris sighed.

More waves launched at them, making Chris have to dash about while Amethyst seemed to… for lack of a better word, parkour about.

They made it behind a sturdy wall, where the waves weren't breaking through.

"Did either of you catch what was doing that?" the princess asked, trying to catch a glimpse only to flinch back as an attack made some pebbles hit her face.

"Not really…"

" _Hm...something about it seems familiar, though…"_ X said pensively.

The waves continued until they suddenly stopped. Amethyst was dubious about this, so she took a small piece of rubble and tossed it a few inches into the open.

When it clattered, there were still no more waves coming in.

"I think they've moved on…"

"On the other hand, they could also know that we haven't actually come out yet," Chris said, slightly suspicious.

"Hmm… I got it!" the Princess whisper-shouted. "Chris, you fire a charged shot up, then we dash out from the sides."

"Um...alright," the Blue Mega Man agreed.

She did remember it was only his second time doing this, right? He didn't know how long he'd be able to focus on the charged shot…

The waited a few seconds, and Model X managed to launch a charge shot upward.

The second it was visible above the wall, both of them dashed out! And…

There was no one anywhere.

"Huh?"

Chris blinked in confusion. "Okay, I guess whoever it is really isn't here…" Something was niggling at him though…

Unseen to either of them, a figure fell from the sky, a blade pointing downwards.

It made impact with the ground, causing an explosion that launched Princess Amethyst and Model X several feet!

"Gah!" Chris said in pain, almost skipping along the ground like a stone in a pond. "What the heck was-?" And then his eyes widened behind his helmet as the smoke cleared and he saw _who_ had caused it.

" _It...can't be…"_ X said in shock.

"No way…" Amy muttered, recognizing this iteration of a famous hero.

" _It ToOk YoU lOnG eNoUgH…_ _ **X**_ _,"_ the Red Ripper stated. " _I HaVe To AdMiT, tHaT tAcTiC wAs PrEtTy ClEvEr."_

Standing in front of Amethyst and Model X...was _Zero._ His guise was that of the viral entity from the Network Transmission part of the Battle Network timeline, but his words betrayed the fact that he was the same Zero that X had known for centuries.

" _Zero...what happened to you?!"_ X shouted in horror. " _How did you get infected by the Glitches?!"_

" _ThEy OuTnUmBeReD mE,_ _ **X**_ _,"_ he stated with a shrug, " _DeSpItE dEsTrOyInG EvErY oNe Of ThEm, ThEy KePt Me DiStRaCtEd LoNg EnOuGh To WhErE i DiDn'T rEaLiZe I hAd GoTtEn ToO dEeP iNtO tHe CoRrUpTeD zOnE tO gEt OuT, uNtIl It WaS tOo LaTe…"_

" _bUt It MaDe Me ReAlIzE sOmEtHiNg,_ _ **X**_ … _mY tRuE pUrPoSe."_

Chris started shaking in fear.

 _Zero_ got infected by the Glitches...they had to fight _Zero…_

And his true purpose...Zero's true purpose had been to…

"' _True purpose'? Are we really going to retread those waters?"_ X asked wearily. " _Chris...I know it looks grim. But I also know Zero, and it's not really Zero speaking right now. Right now, we're just speaking to the Glitches infesting him. But the real Zero is still in there, fighting back against them. He knows as well as I that you two are as human as they come. Zero is many things, but he is not someone who kills innocent humans."_

"I...I dunno…" Chris gulped.

" _Trust me. You'll get through this. I have faith in you, and Princess Amethyst."_

"AlWaYs LiKe YoU tO pUt OtHeRs BeFoRe YoUrSeLf, **X**... i GuEsS tHaT aNd YoUr CoNsTaNt WoRrYiNg Is WhAt MaDe YoU a HeRo."

"You were a hero too, Zero!" Amy yelled, trying to bring the Maverick Hunter back to his senses, "You, X, Axl, you saved lives, Reploid and human!"

" _I'm No HeRo, PrInCeSs…"_ Zero's left hand morphed into its active mode, and an energy blade erupted from it, " _jUsT aSk_ _ **X**_ … _**i'M jUsT aNoThEr MaVeRiCk.**_ " Zero charged in, Z-Saber impacting Amethyst's shield and making her knees buckle!

"Amy!" Chris yelled, firing the X-Buster to try to get Zero off of her.

" _Are we seriously having this argument again, Zero?! You were more of a hero than I ever was! Whenever the world needed you, you were always there to save the day! What did_ I _do?! I forced things onto you, and barely helped at all, because_ I was tired. _But that's not an excuse! It never should be an excuse!"_

" _AnD iT iSn'T aN eXcUsE,"_ Zero replied as he took the shots, then went to slash at Chris, " _i WaS mEaNt To DeStRoY!"_ He dodged a slash from Amy. " _I cOuLd NeVeR bRiNg PeAcE bY mYsElF!"_ Zero's right arm morphed into a buster and he fired at Amethyst, though his aim was pretty off. " _tHaT wAs WhAt YoU wErE fOr,"_ A kick to X's arm. " _ThAt WaS wHaT cIeL wAs For!"_ His Buster hummed, charging up a shot. " _WiThOuT eItHeR oF yOu, WhAt Am I?"_

The Hunter turned Maverick fired his large blast at the Princess, and launched a beam wave from his Saber at Model X! Amy blocked the shot, but was sent skidding back!

" _i'M nOtHiNg BuT a MaChInE mAdE tO kIlL."_

"That's not true! If you were really like that, you wouldn't have felt bad about your purpose!" Amy yelled. "You wouldn't have felt anguish when Iris died!"

"GAH!" Meanwhile, Chris couldn't block the sword beam and went skyrocketing into a wall.

He was pretty freaked out right now, but he couldn't give up now. He didn't want to die!

"B-Besides which...you and X both have a n-nasty habit of b-being...way too modest…"

" _He also has a nasty habit of interrupting me before I'm finished. Zero,_ I'm _the one who has no excuse! I failed you! If I had actually done my duties, you could have just enjoyed your rest! Instead, I forced you to wake up; causing you amnesia for a long time! I pretty much abandoned you! And you_ still _managed to save the day! You beat my insane copy, you beat Elpizo, you destroyed Omega, you took out Weil! Even before that, back during the Maverick Rebellions...when I was feeling too sorry for myself, you kept fighting anyway! What are you, Zero? You're_ a hero, and my friend!"

Zero stopped in his tracks, about to slash Amy again. " _...YoUr CoNsTaNt CoMpLaInInG wAs PrEtTy An...aN-n-N!"_ He held his head in pain, and roared, mouthpiece actually acting like a mouth. " _Y..._ _ **yOu'Re WrOnG!**_ " A glitchy aura enveloped him. " _I...YoU'rE wRoNg!_ _ **I… WILL DESTROY YOU, MEGA MAN!**_ " Zero fired from his Buster again, the Glitches enhancing them all to charged shots!

Amy dashed in at the nick of time, and used her shield in an odd way, something to both protect against the barrage, and to gain some distance from the infected being with Chris.

"We were getting to him, but I don't think it'll work again!"

"W-What do w-we do?!" Chris asked, slightly hysterical.

Amethyst looked at Zero, who seemed to be clutching his head in pain again.

"My necklace… It should have the power to at least bring Zero out this. Chris, I need you to cover me, alright?" she said, standing up while calming herself.

"U-Uh…" Chris was really _really_ hesitant at the moment. But…

X believed in him...and despite knowing him for only a day, Amy trusted him enough to do something like this even though she was the one with more experience.

And Rhody...Aeon...if they couldn't snap Zero out of it, then he'd be stuck here for forever…

The new Mega Man/Rider shut his eyes closed for a moment, summoning up all of his courage. "Alright," he nodded.

Amy nodded back, and charged in at the Hunter turned Maverick.

He was still in a haze when the princess' blade struck him in the chest. Zero grunted and slashed at her, but Amy narrowly dodged. She tried to bash him with her shield, but the Red Ripper countered with a close range buster shot, leaving her open!

Just when he was about to slice down, two powerful charged shots hit him dead in the chest!

Of course, it was Chris. "Wake up, Zero!" he yelled, firing incessantly from the X-Buster, ready to dash out of the way if Zero took the bait.

" _ **GRRRRAAAAAAAGGHH!**_ " Zero turned both arms into busters and fired one charge shot from his left hand, another from his right, and then launched a sword wave from his left hand's Z-Saber!

But Amethyst's surprise attack to his back severely threw off his aim, allowing X a chance to dodge!

' _Don't think, just act!'_ Chris thought to himself, dashing forward and jumping the first one, using the momentum to jump the second as well, then sliding under the sword beam.

Zero had re-engaged with Amethyst, to the point that he didn't notice that Model X had survived the onslaught. Her shield was starting to crack like yesterday, but she couldn't back down now!

It was then that Model X got a stupid idea. He charged up another charged shot into his Buster, but rather than fire it at Zero to get him to go away...he charged in and _punched_ him with the Buster, right as it fired.

 **-BOOM!-**

"WAAAAAAH!"

"Chris!"

The resulting explosion caused both of them to go flying, although since Chris had lesser experience, he hit the wall in pain. And his arm _really_ hurt.

"Gkh...not one of my brighter ideas," he winced in pain.

" _That's...an understatement,"_ X agreed, feeling some of the pain himself. " _That stunt's also damaged the Charge function of the X-Buster."_

" _ **GRRRRRHG!**_ " Zero experienced big damage from that up close buster shot.

Aura began to surround him, and he raised his fist up, energy gathering.

"Oh no…" Amethyst recognized what this move could end up being.

His aim was at Chris… so she'd just need to change the target!

The princess broke into a sprint, and threw her blade at Zero, the spinning disk damaging his right arm and bringing his attention to the redhead.

Energy still ready, he gathered it into his left fist and swung it onto the ground!

" _ **Rekkoha!**_ "

Suddenly, the area was no longer just lit by the Corrupted Zone, but from laser beams falling from the sky into Amy's direction!

She ran. She kept running and dodging the beams as best as she could while ripping off her necklace.

She had gotten too close! Zero canceled the attack and swung his Z-Saber at her!

But her battered shield managed to intercept, breaking into pieces as she roared, slamming the necklace into an exposed portion of Zero's chest!

" _ **GGHHKK! gUuAuAAAAAAAAAA!**_ " As Zero screamed, light erupted all around him, blinding as it rose to the height of skyscrapers!

* * *

"Huh?" Rhody muttered as he looked at the Corrupted Zone. "It's… starting to go away!"

Indeed, the corruption was receding back to where it originated, the ground and buildings going back to how they were.

"They did i-GAH!" That's when the light pillar glew its brightest, making Rhody cover his eyes.

This made him miss a figure flying towards the light.

* * *

It had died down.

The light was gone and Zero was on his knees, smoke billowing from his frame.

Chris managed to finally get back to his feet, stumbling slightly as he walked forward.

X stared at Zero from where his Biometal sat on the Bio Adapter. " _Zero…"_

" _X…"_ He turned his head towards the voice of his partner. " _...guess I… really did a number on you guys, huh?"_

Amy couldn't help but giggle a bit. "Yeah, y-you kinda did..." she collapsed forward, but the Red Hunter managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

"A-Amy?" Chris said in worry, stumbling once again.

" _She's exhausted. Not too much of a surprise, after all that's happened the last couple of days,"_ X noted.

" _Sorry… 'bout what I said earlier…"_ Zero tiredly said while setting the princess down gently.

" _You don't need to apologize for anything, Zero. We both know you weren't in your right mind at the time,"_ X said, trying to soothe his friend.

Meanwhile, Chris was thinking about something that was bugging him. "Hey, um...Zero? Why do you still...look like that?" he asked. Zero still looked like his Battle Network counterpart, after all...

" _Looks like the Glitches got to me more than I thought. Though…"_ He looked at the area, gradually returning to normal. " _Something tells me it won't last too much longer."_

He got up on shaky legs. " _Guh… come on. The least I could do for you two is get you somewhere to properly rest,"_ he held out his hand.

Seeing that he was still stumbling slightly, despite slight misgivings (after all, controlled or not, Zero had tried to kill him a few minutes ago), Chris held out his hand to grab Zero's.

 **-SNRK!-**

A blade erupted from Zero's chest, sparks flying from the wound and Amethyst's necklace falling to the ground.

" _ZERO!"_ X yelled in horror.

As for the cause of the blade...well, Chris didn't need to look any further than the shape of the blade itself. "W-What?" he said in shock, stumbling backwards.

Which also gave him enough room to see the sword's owner. A rather short and blue person, who looked like a sphere with stubby arms and legs wearing armor. And wearing a rather familiar mask…

"It couldn't be…" Chris continued.

" _...Meta Knight?!"_ X exclaimed in shock.

Zero fell forward, dissipating into data, until Biometal Model Z clattered onto the ground, immobile.

Meta Knight landed on the ground, and glared at Model X, before using his cape to teleport away.

The shock gave way to anger at this point, fury building up in Chris.

All of that...bringing Zero back to his senses...and for this?!

"Zero!" he yelled, running up to the prone Biometal.

Biometal Model Z had definitely seen better days. It looked worn, and scratched up. The light in its eyes were dull.

Chris gently picked him up, looking back and forth between him and Amy.

Why did Meta Knight do that? What the hell was going on _now?_

And what was he supposed to do?

"Guys!" a voice called out. It was Rhody! He was riding the Warp Star near the ground shakily, and his eyes widened when he looked around and at Chris and Amy's states.

"What the heck happened?!" He slowed down and got off the transport.

"L-Long story...Aeon. I'll...try to fill you in…" Chris mentioned.

"Um… right." Like yesterday, he picked up Amethyst and set her onto the Warp Star. He also caught a glimpse of her necklace and set it down on the transport as well. "Let's just hurry back so you guys can get some proper rest."

Unnoticed to him, the necklace started to glow as it touched the Warp Star.

* * *

A short time later, the group had returned to the building they had camped out in during the night.

Chris was almost totally exhausted once the Megamerge had been canceled, but he didn't want to go to sleep.

' _Not yet anyway…'_ he thought, looking at Model Z's battered form.

X floated up. He had sustained some damage from the battle himself, but he was still vigilant for the moment. " _Don't worry. Zero will be fine, although it might take him some time for auto-repairs to kick in."_

"...If you say so...just...what even was that?" Chris sighed, leaning back into the couch.

"Maybe you can fill me in on what happened?" Rhody asked.

Chris sighed again. "Turns out the source of the Corrupted Zone was Zero. He'd been infected by Glitches, then set up against us. It was kinda painful, but Amy and I managed to snap him out of it...but just when everything was settled, _Meta Knight_ came in out of nowhere and stabbed Zero in the back, reducing him to a Biometal," he explained, although he clenched his fists as he spoke the last part.

" _Why did you do that…?"_ X muttered to himself, lost in thought.

"Wait, _Meta Knight?!_ " ' _What the heck would he be doing here, and why did he freakin' shank Zero?!'_

Meanwhile, Chris got distracted by what X was saying. And then he remembered X's rather violent reaction earlier…

"Hey, X? How do _you_ know Meta Knight?" he questioned.

" _Who do you think gave me the Warp Star in the first place?"_ X pointed out. " _Still, I can't help but wonder what's gotten into him...he didn't look like he was glitched…"_

"That is kind of weird…"

"What is?" Rhody asked, still unable to hear X.

"Oh, right...um...basically, Meta Knight's the one who gave X the Warp Star in the first place…"

"...Um, I'll just assume that X has some connections… Still, Meta Knight's never seemed like the stab you in the back type. Guy offers a blade to Kirby every time they fight to make it fair..."

" _A fair point,"_ X admitted. " _It's puzzling why he behaved that way…"_

Once Chris relayed what X said, Rhody responded with, "Either way, this seems like a mystery for another day…" He stared at Amy's unconscious form. "...She's not gonna react well to what's happened to Zero…"

"Yeah…" There wasn't much else for Chris to say. He was too tired to really say much else. So it wasn't much of a surprise that he drifted off into unconsciousness.

"...Yeah, I can see ya needing rest." Rhody spoke to himself, and sighed.

He got up and walked towards a window, looking at the unique sky.

It was blue, like the one back on Earth, but had a sort of glow to it. Data gathered onto one point, creating what could be considered this places Sun, a huge white ball of Data.

Rhody stared at Amy, then to Chris, and sighed again. "What are we even doing here, Oath…"

* * *

Chris woke up to see Amy holding Biometal Z in her hands, a forlorn look on her face.

"...Guess Rhody told you what happened…" he sighed, still slightly down.

"It doesn't make any sense…" she muttered. With a sigh, she place Zero's Biometal gently on the table and stood up. "Has anyone seen my necklace?"

"Huh?" Rhody heard Amethyst ask this as he walked into the room. "It should be on or near the Warp Star. I kinda forgot to put it somewhere near ya."

"Alright, but where _is_ the Warp Star?"

"It should be right… huh?"

"What is it, Aeon?" Chris asked in confusion.

"It's… not there." A large yellow star shouldn't be hard to miss, but there was no trace of the thing. "This doesn't make any sense," he muttered as he looked around the room. "It should be right… what?"

Instead of finding the Warp Star behind the couch where he put it, Rhody found Amy's necklace and…

"Hey, Oath, might want to look at this," the boy said, picking up an item very similar looking to the Fourze Driver, only missing two slots.

"Is that...the Fourze Driver?" Chris said in confusion. "No, wait, two slots...the Nadeshiko Driver then?"

"Who's Fourze and Nadeshiko?" Amy asked while retrieving her necklace.

" _Yes, care to explain what you're talking about? You clearly recognize what it is,"_ X pointed out.

"They're characters from a TV Show from Japan me and Oath watch."

"Oath?"

"What Chris goes by online. Turns out we know each other from a forum."

"Oh."

"Leaving that aside, that Belt looks like the ones they used to transform into heroes," Chris added. "But what's it even doing here? And where'd the Warp Star go?"

"Maybe… Oh geez, Amy, does your necklace have the ability to turn things into other things?" Rhody asked the princess.

"Uh, I don't know. It just seems to do whatever it needs to, really." Like that one time it powered her up to take down Dark Opal… "Why didn't you help me when fighting Zero?" She was now glaring at the trinket.

"...Well, now what? We're out a means of transport now…" Chris sighed.

" _Well, it's not like you'll really need it to get back to Earth,"_ X stated. " _I think you've all done more than enough for now. I'll show you how to get home."_

Chris sighed again, this time in relief. "Right, thanks, X. Guys, looks like we're gonna go home now," he relayed.

Amethyst mimicked his sigh. "Finally, I can shower."

"I'm only now realizing that I haven't needed to use the bathroom since we've gotten here," Rhody muttered.

"I'm trying not to think too hard about that."

* * *

As the trio and X walked through the city, they noticed that there was actually people milling about, albeit in small quantities.

"Where were all these guys when the Glitches were attacking?" Rhody asked himself.

" _After the Glitches first started appearing, I personally made sure they all left,"_ X spoke up. " _It wasn't safe for them, after all."_

"Some of these guys look… familiar." Amy muttered while looking at the 'NPC's.'

" _They should. This isn't called Game World for nothing. Any game you can name in your world, the people in them inhabit this one."_

Chris's eyes lit up. "Does that mean we can meet Mario?!" he asked excitedly.

"Holy crap, I think I see some of the NPC's from the Mario RPGs!" Rhody tells Chris in a hushed, yet excited tone.

" _Mario's usually a bit too busy to go into the Nexus,"_ X told Chris, slightly amused by the group's giddiness.

"Oh…" That was kind of a disappointment. Then again, considering how many different games Mario had, maybe there was a reason he was so busy. At least, that's what Chris thought.

Something else occurred to him. "Um...no, never mind," he mumbled. He didn't really want to pry into personal details all that much.

...Especially when it came to the subject of X ever meeting his own family.

"Ohmygosh, there are Waddle Dees!" Amy squees, yes, squees, at how adorable they look.

Chris 'sneakily' tried to see if any of them were Bandana Dee, but nope. No blue bandanas. "Hey, X, who usually comes in here anyway?"

" _Well, 'main protagonists', as it were, are usually too busy with new games being released to spend much time in here. 'Side characters', who aren't in every game, typically come here every so often to visit their friends in other realms of Game World. I'm usually here because Capcom's being stingy with making new games in the Mega Man series,"_ he explained dryly.

"Woah…" Rhody could only look in awe at the contraption in front of them.

If he had to compare it to something, it'd be a sort of landing pad with all sorts of technology attached to it.

" _Here it is, the Central Teleporter,"_ X said while hovering to a panel. " _You can get back to Earth through this."_

Chris took a deep breath. The last couple of days had been all kinds of hectic…

But...even then, the world they were returning to wasn't the one they had originally come from.

' _But...does that matter when the people who matter to you are still there?'_ he wondered.

" _Princess, I'm telling you this now. This may not be the last time I'll call for your assistance."_

After Chris relayed the message, she went silent, "...I see. Alright, I'll help whenever I'm able to… Just promise to give me a bit of a warning before sucking me up here," Amy added at the last second.

"Hey, uh...what do we do with these?" Chris asked, hoisting up the Bio Adapter, and pointing to the Fourze Driver-esque thing that Rhody had.

" _...As much as I don't want to get you involved anymore, I can't fight by myself anymore. If you wish, I'll be asking for your help as well."_

Chris was hesitant, but…

His entire life, he'd wanted to go on some kind of adventure. Do something that really mattered. ...Be a hero.

And today...he had been, right? He'd helped save this place from being cast into oblivion.

But...wasn't that just because he'd gotten lucky?

"...I'll think about it," he muttered quietly.

"So… what'd he say?" Rhody asked.

"Um...basically if I wouldn't mind helping out as well?"

"Ah."

" _Okay, you all get on the platform, I'll send you back,"_ X told Chris.

Soon, everyone was on the pad, and X operated a screen connected to it.

Then, Chris, Rhody, and Amy teleported out of the Nexus.

* * *

A short while later, the trio appeared exactly where they had been before they had been pulled into Amy's 3DS. Time hadn't seemed to progress at all either...the buses were still there…

"Gaah, I landed on my keys…" Myles groaned as he looked around. "Uh… huh, nothing's happened."

"Well, that's a relief," Amy muttered while getting up, now back to looking normal. "Sure makes worrying about when to come back a none issue." ' _Which is good, I don't want to make mom worry…'_

"Ugh...I feel like my legs are about to fall off…" Chris groaned himself. For a second, he might have thought it was a shared hallucination...but he realized he was still holding the Bio Adapter, so...there goes that idea.

"So… I guess we just go home then?" Rhody asks while looking at the bus loop.

"Yeah…" Just then, inspiration flashed on Amy's face, causing her to proceed to dig through her backpack. "Here," she pulls out her cellphone, "we should at least keep in contact with each other outside of school."

"Oh, uh...yeah, that makes sense," Chris agreed, digging out his Galaxy SII. He then gave a sideways look at Rhody.

"...Well, uh...whatever else, Aeon, it's nice to finally meet you IRL," he mentioned.

"Ditto, man," Rhody said while looking at his friend.

He then took a few seconds to look at his phone. "Okay, this' gonna have to be done weirdly, 'cuz I can never remember my own phone number."

"...Seriously?" Amy gave Rhody a look.

"Uh, being fair...I tend to forget my own number a bunch of the time too," Chris admitted. He then took a look at Rhody's phone. "...That's an Android too, ain't it? ...Settings, About Device."

"Oh, I can just go to my contacts for my number. Here." He showed both Chris and Amy the screen.

' _...Why do I never remember I can do that?'_ Chris questioned of himself.

Soon, all the teenagers had each other's numbers. "Right, well, I better go before I miss the bus," Amy said while walking away. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, I guess." With an awkward wave, she quickly went to her bus home.

"...Soooooooo…" Chris drew it out. "...This is kinda different from the usual RP Plot, ain't it?"

"More of something along the lines to one of your fics, really," Rhody said, kicking the ground slightly. "Though I'm pretty sure none of them had the age back thing."

"Eh...first version of JLM did, but Joker and I dropped it," Chris admitted. "I'm somewhat glad I didn't get saddled with 'Eiji Kadoya' again...although, I've been thinking about something. You called me a Rider earlier...this was your ZX Mega Man idea, wasn't it? The belt?" he clarified, holding up the Bio Adapter.

"Yeah, basically," the other teen nodded. "You might want to put that in your backpack before someone sees."

"Okay...although given that X is still in computer land, I'm not sure if it's going to be that useful to anyone out here," Chris admitted.

"True, I… just don't want anyone to walk up to us and ask what's with the cosplay item," Rhody admitted sheepishly. He was only getting comfortable with wearing graphic t-shirts relatively recently.

"..." Chris rolled his eyes, but put the belt away anyway. Another thought then struck him. "Hang on...what did that belt the Warp Star turned into look like again?"

"Uhhh…" Quick check inside the backpack reveals… "A Fourze Driver-Well, Nadeshiko's more an apt comparison since it only has two slots."

"Hm...looks like Fourze/Nadeshiko Driver...made from a Warp Star...you know, I think this might be Wheenesss's Kirby Rider thing," Chris decided.

"Umm… Oh yeah!" The idea from another one of his forum friends came back to him. "Oh geez, this is either a string of coincidences or… something else."

"...You think we're connected to the main Rider multiverse or something?"

"I don't even know, man. There are some benefits to that if it were the case." Like being able to have some Riders as backup for whatever they'll most likely get pulled into, most likely Decade-Backup. "But the detriments _really_ make me apprehensive." He did _not_ want to deal with SHOCKER...or Badan… or whatever they were deciding to call themselves that week.

"Yeah...let's worry about later and just get home," Chris decided.

* * *

 _With Amy…_

"Fwooh, it feels like it's been forever since I was here," the teenage girl said as she flopped on her bed.

This was… unexpected, to say the least.

She was hoping that she wouldn't be called to action anytime soon back in the summer. And while technically correct, the fact that she was called to help in a huge situation at all was worrisome.

' _Well… It's not like I could've said no.'_ She's not what you'd call an 'Active Hero' but when it comes to this sort of thing, she's found that she can't really say no to those who need her help.

' _It wasn't so bad either… I at least got to make some friends… I guess.'_

 _With Rhody…_

* * *

"Legs weak, arms heavy, surprised I haven't passed out already," the boy droned on as he stepped out of the bathroom, already done getting ready for bed at only seven o'clock.

"Oh wait." He just remembered about the Starrior System in his backpack.

What was he supposed to do with it? Should he just keep it in his backpack?

A glance over to his DX White WizarDriver gave him an idea...

"Nah, I'd probably forget it if I shelved it." Staying in the backpack it is.

' _And now to pass out on my mattress.'_

 _With Chris…_

* * *

' _Heart pounding...teeth clenching...stomach weak… I feel like Phoenix Wright right now,'_ Chris decided, lying on his bed.

Being perfectly honest, he wasn't sure what to do right now. Insecurities were creeping up inside him; did he honestly think he was good enough to be a Rider, or even a Mega Man?

Just then his thoughts were interrupted by ringing coming from his… 2DS?

"Huh?" he said in confusion, rolling over to pick it up off the floor where it was plugged into the wall.

The top screen only said 'Receiving Call from Biometal X.'

"The heck?" Chris blinked in confusion. How could X be calling his _2DS?_

...Then again, he'd transported them through Amy's 3DS, so…

Not knowing what else to do, Chris decided to just press the A button.

The top screen lit up, and Biometal X was on the screen.

" _Hello? Chris, can you hear and see me okay?"_

"Uh, yeah…"

" _Oh, good. This should allow me to keep in contact with you when not in the Game World… By the way, why do you have a 2DS?"_ X's question seemed to be one of genuine curiosity.

"'Cause I don't see the point of 3D, and it's cheaper?" Chris was kinda confused about why X asked in the first place.

" _Ah, makes sense. At least it's a handheld from this generation. It'd be… difficult to communicate through a Game Boy Advance,"_ X stated, already seeing Chris only being able to talk to him through text due to a lack of microphone.

"..." Chris just stared over at where his GBA was on his dresser.

" _Anyway, you better get some rest. The first day of battle's always the most exhausting."_ Even through the screen he could see Chris's prior nervousness.

"'Kay…" Chris agreed. He was feeling pretty tired right now...

" _If you feel like you need to talk though, I'm willing to listen. I know that it hasn't exactly been easy for you,"_ the former Reploid commented.

"I...I'll think about it," Chris nodded, his eyelids beginning to droop.

" _Right then. Good night, Chris."_ With that, the screen went black, and Chris went to bed, exhaustion overtaking him.

What would become of the trio in the days to come...just what were the Glitches in the first place...what exactly was Meta Knight's agenda…

Questions like this plagued their minds...and only time would tell what they would encounter.

 _ **Episode 02 - Fin**_

* * *

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: Seriously, there's a band named** _ **Wham?**_

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Yeah, from the 80's last I remember-Oh crap, uh, hey guys! Glad to see you read through the story.**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: No, clearly they were here to watch us yammer on about nothing.**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Quiet, you. Anyway, lots of stuff happened here. Why did Meta Knight do this? Well, we could tell ya, but there's such a thing as suspense.**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: That, and we're lazy.**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Mostly me. See you guys for the next chapter of VG Heroes!**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: No, I'd rate myself as more-oh right, we're outta time. See you guys later!**


	3. Episode 3

_**The Aeon Offspring**_ **: No other reason this took so long to get here is laziness on my part. Sorry, folks!**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: Hey, I should have reminded you myself. Blame belongs to both of us.**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Either way, again, Sorry for the delay, folks. But I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Deep in another part of the Game World, a Corrupted Zone lingered, looking as red and ominous as the one that formerly inhabited the Central Nexus.

And lurking within the center of the area was a familiar ship: the Battleship Halberd. The ship belonging to the famed Knight of Dream Land, Meta Knight, and captained by his squad of Meta-Knights.

As it stood, though...the Halberd looked desolate and abandoned under the backdrop of the Corrupted Zone.

...Not for long though, as what appeared to be Meta Knight himself flew into view, landing on top of the Halberd. Despite being in the midst of the area, he seemed to not show any signs of Glitches himself. He looked out from atop the Halberd, before snorting, heading inside the landed craft.

...And outside the Zone, a shadowy figure gazed onwards, narrowing his eyes as he watched the glitched-up area.

* * *

 _ **VG Heroes: Defenders of the Game World**_

 _ **Episode 03 - Starrior's Dream Land**_

A few days had passed since Amy, Chris, and Rhody went into the Game World. Life had returned to a sense of normalcy.

"Guuuuhh, I hate school so _muuuuuch_ ," Rhody whined as he put his head on the lunch table.

And to some, normalcy meant dealing with things they didn't want to.

Chris and Amy were sitting on the table with him, eating their lunches… well, they were eating their lunches. Rhody wasn't eating anything.

"I've always been more bleh when it comes to it," Chris admitted.

"Mmm." Amy merely grunted while checking some things out on her school issued laptop. "Hey, Rhody, I know you had some bad experiences with school food at your old school, but you should at least eat _something_."

"No way. The pizza here's already giving me flashbacks." ' _Stuff that greasy's only gonna give me heartburn.'_

"..." Chris sighed. "Here…" he muttered, pushing his box of homemade pasta over to his friend.

And Rhody pushed it back. "I'm fine, man. Really. This isn't the first time I've gone without a lunch."

"That explains a lot about your sleeping habits, but no dice, I'll deal," Chris said, pushing it back at him and taking out an apple, proceeding to gnaw on it.

The teenager looked at the pasta and sighed, "Thanks, man." ' _It does look pretty good.'_

But before Rhody could start eating, a tone sounded out from Amy's backpack.

"Huh?" Looking through, she took out her 3DS and looked at Chris. "You think…"

"X is calling us again?" he guessed.

She nodded and began putting her stuff away, "We should go somewhere less… conspicuous." Amy told him as she also starting throwing away her lunch.

"..." Chris looked at his apple in sorrow. He then proceeded to gnaw away at it rather...strangely, before tossing the core away. Then he quickly ate the banana in his lunch bag as well.

"Here, Aeon, have a cookie," he mentioned, dropping an oatmeal raisin cookie in front of his friend, before he and Amy booked it.

"Uh, thanks?" ' _He could've brought it with him, along with his other stuff…'_ It was already too late to tell him, though, as he and Amy had left.

He took a bite out of the cookie to see what flavor it wa-"Oh, gross, Oatmeal Raisin?"

Chris sensed a disturbance in the Cookie Force, and Rhody felt a sense of impending doom.

Amy opened up her 3DS, both of them now hidden from students.

X appeared on her screen. "X, something happen again?"

" _You could say that. I think I've managed to track down Meta Knight. The Halberd is right in the middle of a Corrupted Zone."_

Due to the way he was connecting via the 3DS, both Chris and Amy were able to hear him this time.

"Oh." Amy wasn't really expecting… well, this, so soon.

And the fact that she could understand X now, but she was more concerned about the Meta Knight thing.

"So, uh…" Chris wasn't sure where to start.

" _I'm fairly certain I saw Meta Knight fly directly into the Corrupted Zone. ...He still isn't showing any signs of Glitchiness. Something else must be going on…"_

Amy nodded and looked at her friend, "Chris, you up for this?"

Chris took a deep breath, and nodded. "Not letting you go in there alone."

With a smile and nod, she turned back to X, "Alright, bring us in."

" _On it."_

"Chris?" A voice called out, it sounded like Rhody's. Looked like he was looking for the others for some reason. "Oh, there you guys are. I just wanted to ask-"

"Huh? Woah, wait-Aeon, this isn't a good-!" Chris tried to warn him...but too late.

* * *

 _Game World_

"I'm really regretting that decision." Rhody muttered, a bit peeved at being sucked into this place, _again._

"Why did you even follow us anyway?"

"I wanted to ask what to do with this thing." He held up the box of Oath's homemade pasta. "Though it's now clear I should've waited."

Chris sighed. "You should have just kept it with you; I would have taken it back home after we were finished."

"And so my impatience is my own undoing… once again…"

"Well, you're here now. No use worrying about it now," Amy said to him, now transformed into Princess Amethyst. "So, X, how do we get to the Halberd?"

" _First thing's first; the Halberd is still in Dream Land. Meaning, we have to head there first."_

Once Chris had relayed that, it was there that the professional demeanor the princess had broke down. "We get to go to Dream Land? We get to meet Kirby?!" Well, she seemed… excited, to underplay things.

" _Well, I'm not entirely sure if we will. The Halberd seems to be in the middle of Ice Cream Island. I think Kirby is on Ripple Star at the moment, actually…"_

"So, we get to go to Dream Land then?" Rhody was now really excited… though he was also wondering how they'd do this. Wasn't Kirby, like, eight inches tall?

" _Uh… Actually, I don't think it's a good idea for him to come with us,"_ X told Chris.

Chris made a face...but he could see X's point. He didn't want to see anything happen to Rhody.

...But…"Hey, Aeon, did you ever test the, uh...what did he call it again? The Starrior Driver?"

"Huh? Uh, no. I didn't really want to do that back on Earth, didn't want to risk anything." He said, pulling it out.

"Well, uh...X is kinda concerned for your safety and all, so...I mean, if the thing works, then…" Chris shrugged.

"Oh… yeah, that makes sense." He put the Driver on, and a belt formed around his waist. "...How do I turn this thing on?"

"...The toggles on the front?"

"Right…" For the next few seconds, Rhody mess around with the toggles, pressing them up and down, all at once, and even messed with the lever, which unlike the one on the Fourze Driver, was a pull lever.

"Okay, nothing's happening."

"That's weird…" Chris said, scratching his head in confusion.

"Maybe it needs something to be put into those slots?" Amy suggested.

"I don't _think_ the Fourze Driver needed a Switch inserted to work...the toy doesn't, at least," Chris mused.

"Yeah, well, there's Gameplay and Story Segregation doing its job," Rhody muttered, glaring at the belt. "...Or would it be toy and story segregation? Hrm…"

" _This...might be problematic. How exactly was that belt supposed to work?"_ X questioned.

"Um…" Chris searched his mind, trying to remember… "I...think it needed Copy Essences?"

"You two talking about Copy Essence Deluxes?" Rhody asked.

"Those things from Kirby Super Star's Milky Way Wishes sub-game?" Amy added.

"No, the regular ones...didn't Wheenesss say the Starrior Driver converts those to Ability Switches or something?"

"Well, at this point, you've lost me in terms of what you're talking about." Amy stated. "Shouldn't Rhody be good to just stay wherever we're teleported? Dream Land's not a dangerous place if he doesn't wander off."

"Um...what do you think, Aeon?" Chris asked.

"Well, I'm not stupid enough to wander around." ' _And go on one of Kirby's rampages.'_

* * *

 _Meanwhile, on Ripple Star…_

Kirby, the pink puffball himself, was looking around the place for a piece of cake he had dropped here last time he had visited Ribbon, when he suddenly paused. For some reason, he felt as though someone was saying mean things about him…

...Kirby felt sad…

* * *

' _Why do I feel like I kicked a puppy?'_ Rhody thought.

" _I'm not too comfortable at the thought of leaving him by himself so close to a Corrupted Zone, but I suppose we don't have much choice. It'll take some time for the device to recharge enough to send you all back to Earth,"_ X said reluctantly.

"Well...guess we're all going then," Chris sighed. He didn't especially want Rhody to get hurt, but…

...Well, Dream Land really was a safe place whenever there wasn't an Eldritch Abomination roaming around.

"Dream Laaaaaand!" Rhody exclaimed in excitement. Amy couldn't help but find it slightly humorous on how much of a kid this guy was.

Chris just scratched his head again. He didn't really remember Rhody being this...excitable…

* * *

 _Dream Land_

"Woah..." Rhody's seen some green fields before, but they've never been so… vibrant.

"Guess they don't call it Green Greens for nothing…" Chris commented. "...Although, X, didn't you say the Halberd was on Ice Cream Island?"

" _I did. We'll have to look for a Warp Star, or at least a door there."_

Meanwhile, Amy was also taking in the sights of the environment. Hey! Those may be Bronto Burts in the distance!

"So, uh…" Chris had no idea what to say right now. I mean...the place looked fantastic and everything, but…

"You guys should probably go look for the Halberd, or whatever." Rhody said while taking a seat in the lush grass.

"Um...if you're sure, Aeon…"

"Guys, seriously, I'll be fine. S'not like I'm going on an adventure filled with hazards."

"Guy's got a point," the Princess agreed. "Come on, Chris. Knowing our luck, we're gonna have to go through a Kirby Level before we reach the Corrupted Zone."

"Alright then...see you later, then, Aeon," Chris said uneasily, before he and Amethyst left on their way to Ice Cream Island.

"...I'm so bored!"

"We haven't even left yet!"

* * *

"Okay, this _looks_ like it should head straight down to the coast, and Ice Cream Island," Chris said as he read a signboard.

"Simple enough." Amy began to walk in said direction. "...I was kinda expecting more hazards, to be honest."

"Well...we're not Kirby, so…" Chris shrugged.

"Right." As they continued their walk, they made it to the coast.

One problem, though.

The Halberd was submerged.

"...I don't suppose Leviathan is anywhere nearby?"

" _I have no idea where those four went off to."_

"Rats…"

"Well, if there's one benefit to my powers, is that I can hold my breath for a _really_ long time." With that, Amethyst began to walk into the water.

"Um…"

" _Chris, relax. Remember, I have control over your major biological functions at the moment, plus your helmet entirely covers your mouth. You'll be fine,"_

Chris took a deep breath. "Okay…" He followed Amethyst into the water, attempting to trek into the Halberd.

"Ah geez, you don't float. That's actually a lot easier then what I have to do…"

* * *

 _The Sunken Battleship Halberd…_

"*GAAASP!* I'm really glad there are air pockets in this thing!" Amy said to herself as she rose out of the water, and then tried to wring out the stuff from her hair.

"I'm suddenly glad I'm wearing armor right now," Chris mentioned as he jumped out.

"Okay, so we're in the Halberd. What now, X?"

" _We have to find the source of the Corrupted Zone. And I have a feeling Meta Knight is involved in that, one way or another."_

"Alright, let's get moving." The two began their journey into the bowels of the Halberd,

It was definitely dilapidated. It looked as though more and more water was leaking into the battleship. Neither of them could tell when all of the innards would be completely submerged.

And then, "Looks like we're getting closer," Amy declared as they reached the corner of the Halberd's Corrupted Zone. "Looks like we're gonna have to go under, again," she sighed, getting ready to hold her breath.

"Sorry…" Chris apologized sheepishly.

"It's okay, just means we can't make small talk."

To say that being underwater while in the Corrupted Zone was very creepy would be an understatement. There were very few things that made it possible to tell that they were underwater, but the things that were there really stood out. The floating objects (and Amy), the wobbly vision, and for Chris, the hollow sounds of being submerged.

"Man, this is creepy…" he said with a slight wince, looking around. ' _What even happened that the thing's stuck in the water like this anyway?'_

" _Kirby wrecked the thing, remember?"_ X told him.

' _...Did X just answer something I_ thought _?'_

" _Yes. Yes I did. I am linked up to your biological systems right now after all."_

' _Oh...although I could swear Meta Knight fixed this thing eventually, so...unless you're saying that_ that _Halberd is another airship or something?'_

" _I'm not able to keep up with everything the people I know are doing."_ X replied, " _...Especially when they end up doing…"_

' _...Yeah…'_

They kept going, and… they saw a small red glow ahead of them?

"...Well, I think that's a pretty obvious sign that something fishy's up ahead...no pun intended."

It was then that the light launched forward towards the Princess! She swiftly swam out of the way and saw what the thing was.

A trident.

Looking forward again, they see the offender, a small person similar looking to the other denizens of Dream Land, but armored and seemed slightly robotic, and there were more behind it!

" _Meta-Knights! Looks like they've been corrupted. But how did they get here?!"_

"This is Meta Knight's ship, after all! Whatever's going on with him, it makes sense his crew would follow him!" Chris said, trying to fire off at them with the X-Buster. Unfortunately, the cold water was dampening the power of the super-heated plasma, lowering the damage output.

But what the Buster shot couldn't finish, Princess Amethyst could! She summoned her blade and slashed it at the foe, a Trident Knight, knocking it back into its compatriots!

"This is getting out of hand!" Chris decided, charging up to level 3 and launching two semi-powerful blasts at the horde of Meta-Knights.

As he did, though, his right Buster sparked, though fortunately there weren't enough impurities in the water to shock anyone.

...Other than him, of course.

"Gkh-!" he winced in pain.

" _I did tell you that your stunt when we fought Zero damaged the X-Buster, right? I'm still trying to repair the damage."_

A Mace Knight caught Model X's wince and spun its weapon around, then launched it at the Rider!

"Oof!" The sluggishness the water imposed on him caused Chris to take the mace right in the stomach, sending him flying...floating…whichever it was, backwards.

Amy was about to attack the Mace Knight, but a Javelin Knight intercepted her, charging right into her and-" _GAAAAAOHH!"_ began to electrify itself! Bubbles escaped Amethyst's mouth as she tried to push the thing back!

"AMY!" Chris yelled in panic. He fired off a charge shot at the Javelin Knight, forcing it to get away from her.

" _This is getting out of hand. Hang on, maybe we scanned something from Zero that might be able to help us out!"_ X decided, digging through his files so he could try to enable the Variable Weapon System. Except...

"' _Variable Weapon System: Damaged and offline'...Uh-oh…"_

The Princess was covering her mouth; she'd swallowed too much water, she couldn't stay under for much longer! There had to be a way out...

Which was when Chris had a flash of insight, looking up. ' _The roof!'_ he realized. The entirety of the inside of the Halberd couldn't be submerged, could it?

Taking a chance, he charged up to Level 3 once again, and fired both charge shots into the ceiling.

More water…but at the top, they could see the water rippling underneath some lights! There was air up there!

The two went to the light as fast as they could, Meta-Knights on their trail, until…

 _ **-SPLOOSH!-**_

They emerged into air!

Once the hit the ground, Amy began to hack out water from her mouth, taking the oxygen in.

But there was no real time to rest, the Meta-Knights were still on their tail!

"Oh, would you all give it a rest?!" Chris yelled at them. "You guys are supposed to be honorable, right? What's so honorable about attacking someone who almost drowned without giving them a chance to react?!"

" _Chris, I don't think we'll be able to talk them out of it like we did with Zero,"_ X started to explain as they began to fight the Knights.

"Eh, worth a shot. Honestly, I'm just annoyed right now," Chris grunted.

"Believe me-*COUGH*-I see where you're coming from," Amethyst said, getting up on slightly unsteady feet. "Let's hurry up and beat these guys down. We can apologize later."

Getting her sword, she and Model X charged the horde of Meta Knight's men!

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

"Man, the clouds here sure do go into weird shapes," Rhody said to himself as he gazed into the sky.

There… wasn't much he could do from where he was. He said he'd stay put, and he did, but the boredom he was experiencing was _really_ building up.

"*Sigh* Maybe I should've stayed back in the Nexus. 'Least there I could walk around…" ' _Maybe I should take a nap, or something…'_

As he laid there, a shadowy figure crept up. He had been observing everything that had happened since the group had arrived in Dream Land. Casting his gaze around, the figure noticed the grey form of the Starrior Driver, sitting half-exposed. His eyes narrowed in contemplation, before coming to a decision.

As Rhody lay there, a deep voice rang out around him. "Will lying there on the ground really change anything?"

"Huh?!" The boy got up with a start, surprised. "Who's there?!"

Casting his gaze around though, he didn't _seem_ to spot anyone...and yet the voice continued on. "I have been watching you this entire time. You would leave your friends to fight their battles by themselves?" The voice sounded kind of familiar...but not.

Rhody knew this kind of guy wouldn't answer his question until he answered his. "...What choice do I have? I can't do anything to help. I'm powerless compared to those guys."

"That belt would seem to suggest otherwise."

"Trust me," the boy replied while getting a grip on the thing. "If I could get this thing to work, I would've gone with 'em in a heartbeat." Fighting never really appealed much to him, but they were still his friends. What kind of guy did that make him if he didn't help them out when he could?

"Be that as it may, this is Dream Land. There are a number of ways to obtain power, even temporarily."

"...And where do you suggest I get this power?" he asked in a measured tone.

In response, the sound of something whistling through the air rang out...before a sword stabbed into the ground in front of Rhody. The sudden action, and the fact that it was a _sword_ thrown at him, made him flinch back slightly.

"If you are powerless, then fight until you obtain power. What you do with it is ultimately your own decision though." ...That voice was very _very_ familiar now. And given a sword had crashed in front of him…

"..." ' _I'm getting reminded of a certain banana-man.'_ "Alright." The boy, though slightly hesitant, stepped forward and, with effort, pulled the sword from the ground. "I'll fight… so that I can get the power to help my friends." ' _Still, I'm kinda surprised that_ him _of all people decided to help me out.'_

' _Guess that means the guy Chris and Amy are up against is a fake.'_

"Now...to see just how much natural talent you possess," the voice stated, before a familiar yellow tornado appeared in front of Rhody.

It stopped, revealing a very familiar short, spherical, and armored individual.

 _It was Meta Knight._

' _Oh my god, he's adorable!'_

...Although for some reason, his mask was missing, revealing the dark blue member of Kirby's species he really was.

"Wipe that look off your face," he said flatly, not looking amused at the fact that his mask wasn't there at the moment. His voice was a dead match for Eric Newsome's performance in Smash Bros. Brawl and 4.

"S-Sorry, sorry. Not… used to seein' ya without the mask." ' _And hearing that voice come out of your mouth without it, either.'_

"You can thank my doppelganger for that, although I know not why he still exists after Dedede destroyed him," Meta Knight said stoically.

"Dark Meta Knight?" _'Yeah… that's right, Dededetour had him as the Final Boss… weird. Usually when the Final Boss of a Kirby game goes kaput, it stays that way.'_

 _'Unless you're Dark Matter, but that's a different can of worms altogether.'_

"Well, now I know who's been causing all this grief for X…" he muttered.

"So I noticed. Unfortunately, I dare not traverse one of the Corrupted Zones myself. But that is besides the point at the moment," Meta Knight stated.

"Right." With all the pleasantries done, Rhody held the sword up in a standard kendo stance, not knowing how else to hold it.

Meta Knight, meanwhile, drew out Galaxia, patiently staring back at him for a moment...before dashing forward for a quick swipe from his sword!

' _Fast!'_ The boy tried his best to deflect the swipe with his blade, though his inexperience was showing itself through his balance getting a bit off, not used to the weight of an actual sword.

He did indeed reflect the swipe, although it was awkward, seeing that Meta Knight was shorter than him and all. Meta Knight, however, used to combat, was quick to recover and jabbed Galaxia forward.

' _Oh man!'_ Panicking a bit, Rhody tried to jump and roll to the side of the swordsman, and then went for a downward swing with the flat of the blade.

Which he succeeded in doing, but Meta Knight flapped his wings to send him coasting to the side. He then proceeded to start firing sword beams.

' _CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! I wasn't expecting him to do all these tricks!'_ Rhody internally (and if ya look at his face, externally) panicked again, trying his best to run and dodge all of Meta Knight's attacks.

Which he did, although one beam nicked the side of his shirt. ...Although, the second his sword actually _hit_ one of the beams, it vanished. Meta Knight clearly wasn't going all out.

' _Okay, okay, he isn't unleashing his full power for this, that's… only_ slightly _reassuring.'_

' _I only hope that my shirt's the only casualty in this.'_ Steeling himself, Rhody charged forward, trying his best to dodge the sword beams when possible and slash at them when they got too close.

He was doing a fine job of it too. Slowly, but ever so surely, his confidence at this was building up.

Of course, then Meta Knight charged in again, looking to slash at him.

Thinking that he won't let him roll to his side again, Rhody decided to counter the slash with his own, hoping to put enough power into it to leave Meta Knight open.

Which, due to his larger body, actually worked...although it was still probably just because the Dark Knight of Dream Land was going easy on him.

' _Don't care! Taking advantage of it!'_ He goes in to smack the dark blue puffball with the flat of his blade!

Meta Knight couldn't recover in time; the blade smacked him in the face, sending him tumbling backwards.

"Gkh...this is half the reason I wear my mask…" he grumbled, rubbing his...well, he didn't have a nose, but he rubbed the general area his nose would be if he had one.

"Phew…" Rhody wiped off the large amount of sweat that had gathered on his face.

He was never the athletic type, and even though the spar didn't really last that long in retrospective, he was starting to wear out.

"Hm...you are not entirely devoid of natural talent."

"Thanks…" All those times swinging around his toy Keyblade for fun really helped out, he guessed.

...Man, it'd be embarrassing of other people knew that.

"If you wish the power to seek to help your friends, then nurture that talent and let it grow. But I suspect...that you already have the power you seek," Meta Knight stated.

Just then, the Starrior Driver started glowing.

"Huh?" Rhody had a look of utter bewilderment as the glow reached his eyes.

Looking down at the Driver, he flinched back in shock as the sword in his hand also glowed, and then…

Out of the blue, the sword turned into energy that proceeded to dive directly into the right slot of the Driver, forming into...a Switch.

It was not any of the Astroswitches Rhody recognized from Kamen Rider Fourze, but rather a green Switch with a rather familiar green hat as the actual button on top.

"This is…" He couldn't help but be amazed at what just happened. "Meta Knight, I… Thanks. Ya really helped me out, here." There was only one thing to do now.

He pressed down on the toggle containing what he knew was the Sword Ability Switch, along with the empty one for the sake of consistency, and he heard the sound confirming that the belt was activating.

And then, something surprising happened.

 **~3!~**

"Wha-?" The Starrior Driver began to countdown to when the transformation will be ready.

 **~2!~**

But instead of the robotic announcer of the Fourze Driver-

 **~1!~**

-he heard Kirby's voice!

The standby tune began to play… the Title theme to Kirby's Dream Land?

' _Gah, can't be gobsmacked now! It's time to-'_ "Henshin!" With a pull of the Lever, he activated the transformation!

A cylinder of energy surrounds Rhody as a suit forms on his body, while… the opening notes of Green Greens plays.

Smoke billows outward as the the energy cylinder disappears, revealing Rhody's new form.

Comparisons could be made with the normal Fourze suit as they're quite similar in composition, but the details themselves are completely different. For one thing, Fourze was never pink. The pink helmet was very circular in design, with red portions on the sides that wrapped to the back. Around the jawline was a red guard and the light blue visor resembled a triangular gemstone with rounded edges.

The collar had a red base, connecting to a pack on the back that, like Fourze, had vents on the bottom. The suit in general was very pink, with red armoring on the legs and shoes. Around the forearms were bulky gauntlets that had the numbers one and two on the left and right arms, respectively. Unlike Fourze, however, these gauntlets seemed a bit more bulky, seeming to have another purpose.

Rhodel "Rhody" Westwood… had become Kamen Rider Starrior!

"Haahhh…" Rhody was amazed by how this all just happened, touching his helmet all over. He had become a Kamen Rider!

Meta Knight observed his new form for a moment, before continuing the conversation. "I was not being entirely altruistic. Together with X's Chosen and Princess Amethyst, you should be more than capable of dealing with my doppelganger. That is all. Now go. They are likely locked in combat with him as we speak." With that said, Meta Knight flung his Dimensional Cape around him and teleported out.

"Hey wai… Could've told me which direction Ice Cream Island was." Starrior kicked the dirt under him and cursed the methods of mysterious mentors. "Right… Wish I could get there quickly-more glowing?!" He cried as his Starrior Driver once again shone.

The light separated from the belt and went in front of him, expanding to where it became: "The Warp Star!" the Rider ran up to the transport in excitement. ' _That's right, according to the anime, the Warp Star was basically a part of Kirby. His source of power, or something!'_

"Alright, with this, I'll be able to catch up with the others no problem!" Putting both hands on the Warp Star, it began to shudder in preparation for take off. "Ice Cream Island, here I co-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHhhh…"

He had forgotten how sudden the take off could be on that thing…

* * *

"HAAH!" Chris and Amy yelled in unison, blasting and slashing the last of the Meta-Knights away. As the group of Meta Knight's followers hit the wall and fell to the floor, they disintegrated into red data particles, before said particles vanished.

"Heh... heh… glad that's over," Princess Amethyst muttered.

"H-Hey...why did they just...fall apart like that?" Chris questioned, catching his breath.

" _I had thought that they were some of Meta Knight's soldiers having been corrupted, but by the looks of it, they may have been some form of… 'Ghost Data' made from the Corrupted Zone itself,"_ X explained to his partner.

"Ghost Data?" Chris parroted. That sounded familiar… "So...it's like an echo of the actual Meta-Knights formed from the Corrupted Zone being on the Halberd?"

" _Something like that."_

"Well, judging by what I'm hearing from you, it looks like we may have more to worry about concerning the Ghost Data," Amy spoke out, a bit miffed at not being included in the conversation.

"Yeah…"

" _In any case, we should be able to get to the source of the Corruption easier from up here."_

"Meta Knight's probably up there...we better be careful," Chris told Amethyst.

The Princess merely gave the Rider a confident look. "I think we can handle ourselves. We've gotten this far, haven't we?"

"Uh...I dunno," Chris admitted hesitantly. "I guess you're right..."

The two walked on the top of the sunken battleship, their feet beginning to touch the water, until eventually reaching the destroyed cannon and saw the main deck of the whole ship.

"It's gonna be quite the climb getting up _there_ ," Amethyst muttered.

"I'm probably gonna be complaining about aching feet at this rate…" Chris said under his breath.

"Better get start-" Before she could finish, a orange tornado began to kick up water behind Amy!

Chris immediately recognized it. ' _Oh crap!'_ Panicking, he dashed forward to try to get Amy out of here!

But all it did was make them both get sucked in, the tornado throwing them across the hull, water splashing about.

"AAGH!" Chris yelled in pain as he impacted the deck, rolling as his momentum carried him. Meanwhile, Amy began to hack up some salt water that had gotten into her mouth. Again.

"Oh, he is going to _pay_ for that one *COUGH*," she seethed, getting up to face her foe.

And said foe was, of course...Meta Knight. The Dark Knight of Dream Land had ceased his Mach Tornado and was standing in front of both of them menacingly.

"Ugh…" Chris groaned, rising back to his feet. "Meta Knight...why are you doing this?" he demanded.

The Masked Warrior said nothing, only glaring at both the Princess and X's Chosen. It was surprising how threatening one of his height could look.

Amethyst gulped, and readied her sword for what she knew would be a hard battle.

Chris took a few deep breathes to try to calm himself down, but...if Meta Knight in real life was even half as effective as he was in Smash Brawl, then…

Meta Knight left no more room for questions, as his cape changed into a pair of bat-like wings as he charged forward!

' _Uh...Uh...Uh...s-shoot him off course!'_ Chris panicked, incessantly firing from the X-Buster to get him to just freakin' stop!

Though his panic wasn't helping much with his aim, he managed to land a couple of shots that made the Masked Knight stagger back and use his blade to deflect the shots.

Amy took the chance and charged in with her sword and shield ready, and swung down her Gem Sword!

Meta Knight knocked the weapon off course, and went for his own slash, the Princess barely having enough time to block. Then he attacked again. And again. Again! Dream Land's Dark Knight was not letting her go on the offensive!

Of course, that was about when Chris dashed to the side to fire a charged shot at Meta Knight to get him to knock that off. He immediately started recharging the Buster as he did, not wanting to take any chances.

The shot hit! Meta Knight staggered forward and Amy took the opening!

But Meta Knight's skill showed itself, he used the momentum of being shot to roll forward, dodging Amy's strike and slashing her from behind!

"GAAH!" The Princess cried as she took the hit. While her magic prevented her from actually bleeding, she could still feel the full force from Galaxia.

"I KNEW IT!" Chris yelled, firing another charged shot at Meta Knight. He knew something like this would happen; which is why he had charged again!

The Knight jumped over the attack, and he flew at a high speed at Model X, beginning to spin with his sword in front like a drill!

' _Oh man oh man ohmanohaanmanoahmanaoahmana!'_ Panicking, Chris tried to slide under the drill, shooting at Meta Knight directly as he did. ...Which probably was not a good idea, but hey. He was panicking.

And it wasn't. As he slid, Meta Knight changed his trajectory and went downward, drilling into Model X's chest! It would've lasted longer, had Amy's attack not interrupted and made him back off.

It should be plenty obvious that drills _hurt._ And while the chest armor of Model X was the most heavily armored part of his body, Chris still felt lots of pain. ...At the same time, he knew full well he couldn't just lie there, no matter how much pain he was feeling, and forced himself to his feet.

"Meta...Knight…" he seethed with anger. First there was what happened to Zero, now there was all of this?! Sending his minions after them, attacking them like this, who did he think he was?!

"We… can't keep going like this. We need to start making sure our attacks don't hit too far apart from each other," she whispered.

"I'm...open to suggestions…" Chris cringed in pain.

"Just try to stick together… we can't risk getting separated…" It looked like Meta Knight was getting ready for the next round, it was time to put this to work.

He charged in again, this time higher off the ship's hull and his sword ready!

' _Come on, come on, AIM AND SHOOT!'_ Chris thought frantically, trying to shoot him as he flew down. The shots were keeping Meta Knight from flying straight at the duo, which gave the Princess and idea.

"Chris, try making him fly downward," she instructed. Chris, listening to her, immediately adjusted his aim to try to make the Dark Knight of Dream Land do just that.

" _Try aiming for where he's going to be instead of where he is,"_ X gave some tips to his partner.

' _Oh, right...that's a thing…'_ Chris remembered. He proceeded to try doing exactly that.

The shots were making Meta Knight swerve about, but he was still getting closer!

' _Almost…'_ The Princess' eyes narrowed as the grip on her sword tightened.

He was getting closer, and was beginning to deflect the shots away!

' _Almost…'_

Chris wouldn't have enough time to completely set up a charge shot, it was all or nothing… ' _NOW!'_

Amy threw her shield forward, the disk spinning at a high speed! It was something Meta Knight easily dodged.

What he didn't see was the sword thrown immediately after.

The blade impacted his body with tremendous force! But it wasn't over yet.

"Chris!"

It was then that Model X fired two charge shots aimed at the dazed enemy, sending Meta Knight flying back!

He landed on the ship's hull with a heavy splash, looking to have trouble getting back up.

' _Can't stop!'_ Chris thought furiously, firing as many regular shots as he could to just make him stay down!

Meta Knight wouldn't go down without a fight, though, as he blocked the shots pelting him.

However, with all the action from before, no one payed attention to the… _twinkling_ sound that was progressively getting closer and closer, until…

 **-BOOOMM!-**

A star shaped object crashed right on top of Meta Knight, exploding!

"Woah!" Chris said in shock, taking a step back.

" _Was that a Warp Star?"_ X said, trying to figure out what had happened.

"Owwwww..." a figure covered in smoke whined, "Why did I have to come in so rough… I know the guys were fighting him, but still...:"

"Wait…" That voice… it sounded like it was coming through a filter, but Amy thought it sounded familiar.

" _Aeon?"_ Chris asked in shock.

"Eh? Oath!" The figure leaped out of the smoke and revealed himself to be Kamen Rider Starrior, "Geez, you and Amy look like you've seen better days. But you're both okay!"

"Uh, yeah, but...HOW THE HECK DID YOU GET THAT TO WORK?!" Chris demanded, pointing at his friend in utter confusion.

"Oh, there's a story to that!" Starrior puffed up, "One filled with much trial, and-"

"Can you just cut to the chase, we're kinda on a timer here." Amy deadpanned.

"Oh alright. Basically, the Meta Knight you guys were fighting was actually Dark Meta Knight. The real one gave me a sword, we sparred, then the sword turned into a Switch I could use."

"...Whaaaaaaaa-?" Chris seemed kinda stuck trying to process that.

"So… the Meta Knight that stabbed Zero…" Amy began.

"Was the fake you two've been fighting." Rhody finished. "Speaking of which, where is he? I know I landed on… Oh."

Starrior stared at the hole he made in the Halberd, water clearly going in.

"...Did I just do that?" he pointed to the hole.

"You did just crash a Warp Star…"

"Yeah…" the Star Warrior rubbed the back of his head. "So… we win? Can we go home?"

It was then a rumbling was felt from within the Halberd.

"Rhody!" Amy glared at the boy.

"I-I didn't mean to jinx it!"

Further away from them, the metal of the hull began to bulge forward, loud smashing being heard from within, until…

 **-BANG!-**

A giant metal lobster jumped through the Halberd!

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Rhody muttered, taking a step back from the new foe.

It was Dark Meta Knight, who was no longer disguised and inside the open cockpit of a corrupted Heavy Lobster Unit, which then closed up to protect the pilot.

"Of course…" Chris sighed. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Alright, this shouldn't be too hard, right?" Rhody half asked, half hoped.

Amy, remembering his earlier jinxing, simply glared at him for even _thinking_ that.

The Heavy Lobster activated his boosters and charged right at them at a fast speed!

"Aw crap!" ' _Dodge!'_ Rhody flung himself away from the killer bot!

"WOAH!" Chris yelped as he dashed out of the way.

"I blame you for this, Rhody!" Amy exclaimed as she rolled out of the way.

"Okay, maybe now I should use this thing," Starrior muttered as he looked at the Sword Switch, "Just, uh… flip or pull this thing and-"

 **~SWORD ON!~**

"Kirby's voice greets me again, honestly not unwelcome right now." With that said, the ringing of swords was heard from the Driver as green armor and a certain green hat was overlaid on top of Starrior's basic armor. A basic sword with a Switch Slot in its hilt appeared in his right hand. Starrior had entered Sword States!

"Woah…" Sword techniques filled Rhody's mind, "Okay… I think I can do this." He spun the blade once and pointed it at the Lobster robot.

"That's a neat look," Chris noted.

" _That belt seems to channel Kirby's Copy Abilities..."_ X said in observation. " _Who knows what kind of power might be held within…"_

"Less talky." Amy readied her own weapons, "More fighty."

Amethyst and Starrior charged at the Heavy Lobster! It fired off a flamethrower from its claw, but both fighters were able to dodge!

And the open claw conveniently let Model X punish the Heavy Lobster for that by firing a Level 2 Charge Shot at its open appendage! It made a direct hit, and sparked up a little!

"You're in for it now-!"

 **-CLANG!-**

"Huh?!" Starrior looked in horror as his blade only scratched Heavy Lobster's hull. "Are you serious!?"

"You!" Amethyst swung. "Have got!" She swung again, "To be kidding me!" Another swing. Only more scratches.

"Guys, what are you doing?! Get out of there!" Model X called.

"Well sorry for having close range weapons-GACK!" Starrior's sarcasm was cut off with a hit from Heavy Lobster's claw, sending him to a wall.

"That's what I meant, genius!" With that cutting remark, Model X started firing the X Buster at the Heavy Lobster, trying to see if it would forget about Starrior and Amethyst and go after him.

And it did. Only instead of sending a projectile to make itself open, it leaped to try and stomp Chris into the ground!

"AAAAAAHHHH!" he screamed in panic, trying to dash out of the way. The Lobster crashed down, and while Model X didn't get hit, he was sent sprawling on the watery hull.

"Guuuuhhh…" Rhody walked to where the Princess was, "How to heck are we supposed to damage this thing? I don't think Dark Meta Knight's gonna leave an opening again."

"There has to be a way… Wait, I think I got it!"

"Daah!" Model X let out as he dodged another charge from the lobster-themed mech.

Just then, Starrior leaped onto the Heavy Lobster's hull! "Yo! Dark Meta Knight! You proud of how you handled things?! 'Cuz let me tell ya!" He began to bash his sword on its eye, "You couldn't get sloppier than your hair-brained scheme!" The robot began to move around, trying to shake the swordsman off!

While it was distracted, Amy was able to reach Chris. "Okay, I think I have a plan."

"Eh?"

"Remember how Heavy Lobster got trashed the first time in Super Star?"

"I never played Super Star!"

"By the way, using a robot to fight us instead of doing it yourself? La-" Rhody's insults were cut off with Dark Meta Knight ramming the Lobster into a wall. Rhody still clung on, but that was all he was doing.

"Okay, in Super Star, the first Heavy Lobster was beaten using the thrusters from the Halberd. Me and Rhody can lead it to there and you can fire off the thrusters from up there!" She pointed to the Halberd's cockpit.

"Um...got it!" Chris nodded, before zooming off over there.

"Rhody!"

"Finally, I was running out of insults!" Before leaping off, Starrior stabbed one of Heavy Lobster's optics, managing to damage it! "Come on, ya coward, face us!" He ran to the submerged area where the thrusters should be, Amy and the mech following.

"Okay, they should be just beyond he-" Starrior was getting tired of all the cutoffs as he was rammed into the water by the machine. Luckily, it was just where he needed it to be.

Meanwhile, up on the bridge of the Halberd, Chris dashed in. The place was kinda a mess though.

"Okay...now where exactly would Thruster Control be?" he wondered.

" _GHH!_ " The Heavy Lobster Unit hefted up Starrior, the pincer crushing him. But Amy got its attention with tossing her shield at its head. It turned itself towards the Princess, which allowed Rhody to stab his sword into the claw!

The mech tossed Starrior away, the appendage now malfunctioning.

"Great. I didn't get the sword before he threw me." ' _Come on, Oath, what's taking you…'_

"Uh...Uh…" Chris was panicking trying to figure out which of the controls were which. "Um...Eeny meeny miney-YOU!" He slammed down on the first red button he saw.

Underwater, engines began to hum.

' _Oh boy.'_ Amy's eyes widened as she saw the thrusters begin to light up. She took Rhody's arm and began to swim away from what was about to occur.

Heavy Lobster lumbered forward, then paused. Dark Meta Knight then turned to the reason why his opponents were running away.

 **-PHWOOOOOOSSHH!-**

The thrusters completely ignited! Blue flames that boiled the surrounding water were emitted from the Halberd!

"GAhAhAAAA!" Though safe from getting scorched and scalded, Amethyst and Starrior were still blown back due to the sheer force!

Model X winced behind his helmet as he saw that, and decided to duck back out to help them.

Heavy Lobster was blown to smithereens, pieces sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

The mask Dark Meta Knight had taken faded into the abyss…

* * *

"Found it." Starrior called out as he walked out of the water, the others waiting on the sandy beach. "Meta Knight's gonna be a little happier knowing this made it out relatively unscathed," he held up the mask.

"Indeed," Meta Knight's voice rang out, before suddenly the mask disappeared from Starrior's hands.

He made a grasping motion a few times before realizing that it was gone. "Gah!" He flinched back. "How'd he do that?!"

"You have much yet to learn," Meta Knight spoke. Now they could tell that he was standing on a nearby tree, his back to them as he affixed his mask in place.

"Well, I guess things worked out in the end here." Amy stretched out, tired from all the combat that occurred this day.

"Easy for you to say. I was the one who had to get that Dark Meta Jerk's attention…" Rhody muttered as he rubbed his sides.

Model X flashed, sending Chris into a string of exhaustion, as X floated forward. " _Meta Knight…"_

Meta Knight turned around, now looking as they all remembered him. "X...stay on your guard. There is more to these Glitches than meets the eye," he said in warning, before teleporting out via Dimensional Cape.

"Always have to be the mysterious mentor, doesn't he?" Starrior muttered as he removed the Sword Switch from his belt, reverting him back to normal. "What d'you think he meant by that?"

"Honestly don't have much of a clue, Amethyst responded. Only thing that flashed through her mind when Meta Knight said that was something Transformers related, but she doubted it would be about that.

"Um...I…" Chris tried to say before he faceplanted into the ground. The after-effects of Megamerging pretty much drained all of his energy, and unlike last time he didn't really have any anger to prop him up.

" _...Oops,"_ X said sheepishly.

Rhody scratched the back of his head at this. "At least it was said… The teleporter thing ready yet?"

" _Nearly, but given Chris's state...oh, wait, you can't hear me at the moment…"_ X remembered.

"I can't understand you, man."

" _Let's see…"_ X concentrated for a moment, the Biometal glowing…

...before he proceeded to project his Cyber-Elf form above the Biometal. " _This any better? This was how I was originally planning to speak with you, Princess."_

"Woah."

"Wow, didn't think I'd see you like this, considering the whole Biometal thing." Amy muttered as she looked at X's projection.

" _Well, as recent as last week, I_ wasn't _actually a Biometal. It's complicated to say the least. I ended up having to give up my physical form and ability to fight on my own in order to save the Nexus from being completely overrun."_

"Sounds like you've had a rough time." The Princess said mostly to herself.

"Well, least you don't have to do it by yourself anymore." Rhody said while getting Chris' face out of the sand.

" _I suppose...I just wish you didn't get dragged into this as well…"_ X sighed. " _Anyway, what I said before was that given how Chris is at the moment, I'd advise you to rest up a bit before returning to Earth. Time doesn't pass there while you're here."_

* * *

Chris woke up with sand in his mouth.

"PHLEGH!" he spluttered, trying to get it out of his mouth.

"Oh hey, you're awake," Rhody stated as he munched on a snack he found earlier.

"Eugh...why do I have sand in my mouth?!"

"You kinda passed out and faceplanted in sand," Amy told him, now back to her usual attire. The four were gathered around a tree in a more meadowy part of Dream Land.

"*Sigh*...of course," Chris sighed, slumping back on the ground.

"On the plus side, the teleporter thingy should be ready by now, right X?"

" _It should be, yes,"_ the Biometal agreed, having shut off the projection of his Cyber Elf form in order to conserve power...meaning Chris had to relay again.

Once he did, Amy smiled, "Good, now we can head back home. I'd like to stay in Dreamland longer, but…"

"Yeah, let's go before we end up tripping over an eldritch abomination." Rhody agreed.

"...I don't think they're _that_ ubiquitous…" Chris mentioned, scratching his head.

"Still don't want to risk it!"

* * *

"Sir…"

"What is it?"

"It is Dark Meta Knight… He has failed."

"What? He was one of the strongest amongst us. Who could've defeated him?"

"It was those children, sir. They managed to get a hold of power similar to the Heroes."

"...I see. We will need to keep an eye out for them, then."

* * *

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: So, who are these mysterious strangers who seem to be involved in what's going on? …I dunno; Aeon hasn't told me.**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: I'll get to it soon enough. After this. Probably.**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: You better…**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Where will our heroes go next? Who knows?**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: Us?**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Yeah, but they don't. See ya next time, folks.**


	4. Episode 4

_**The Aeon Offspring**_ **: MERRRRRY CHRISTMAAAAAAS!**

 _ **OathToOblivion:**_ **What he said. Kinda weird that we finished this up on Christmas Eve, honestly…**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Though it does serve a nice gift for you all. We actually really got in a groove with this. The thing mostly took only 2 days to write!**

 _ **OathToOblivion:**_ **Except for like...the very first part. I think we wrote that a few weeks ago...but yeah, we're getting on a roll now, so expect more sooner! ...Probably!**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **VG Heroes: Defenders of the Game World**_

 _ **Episode 04 - Azaleas of the Desert**_

"And so thanks to yours truly, the day is saved once again!"

"Rhody, you weren't the only one that pulled your weight back there," Amy commented as the group walked through the Nexus.

"Yeah, Amy did a lot too," Chris agreed with a nod.

" _You did too, Chris."_

"...Um...I don't...really think I did, but if you say so, X…"

"Hey, I like to think we all did great… some more than others, but who's counting that?" Rhody declared loftily.

"You seem to be." Amy jabbed the playfully cocky boy in the rib.

"Feh! Right, so we just take the teleporter thing again to go back home, right?"

" _That is how it functions, yes,"_ X said wryly, and Chris once again relayed his words.

"...I still want to know what was up with Dark Meta Knight, to be honest…" Chris added.

"Yeah…" Amy put her hand on her chin as she began pondering. "Most Kirby villains don't really come back more than two times after they've been offed."

"Wasn't he his normal colors while in the Corrupted Zone, too?" Rhody asked, wondering what was up with that.

"Yep. It… doesn't seem to add up with what we know."

"So the heroes are fighting against a foe they know barely anything about, along with deeper purpose behind the whole thing."

" _When you look at it, yeah, anyone that's experienced these sort of adventures can see the details,"_ X replied, thinking back to his own battles.

Though really, Sigma being a part of almost all those plans was kind of ridiculous.

"To be perfectly honest...I can't help but feel slightly apprehensive about the whole thing," Chris admitted. "It's just...I don't know, I just feel slightly worried, and I'm not really sure why."

"There _is_ a feeling of dread you get when you're involved in these sorts of things yourself…" Amy admitted.

"Hmmmm…" Rhody hummed as he closed his eyes, "...Honestly, I'd say the best course of action is to not worry too much."

"What?" Amy gave the boy a flat look.

"Seriously. I don't mean be completely ignorant to what's going on, but worrying about it too much will just cause paranoia."

" _I can… see where his logic stands…"_ X admitted, though Chris could tell by his tone that he was (metaphorically) quirking a brow at Starrior's user.

"Alright, but don't be acting too carefree. I don't want to be dealing with someone who won't take anything seriously." Amy said as they neared the Central Teleporter.

"Hey, I can be plenty serious."

"...Lies," Chris said flatly.

' _And I'm not sure I can stop myself from worrying about it, to be perfectly honest…'_

"Your words wound me." Rhody replied in an equally flat voice. "Let's just go home and wait for X to call us again."

* * *

"I wonder when X will call us again."

Time had gone on as the trio came back to their world. It wasn't long before a couple of days had passed and Rhody as getting anxious to go back.

"Calm down, if anything, it's probably a good thing that he hasn't called us in," the blond at the table stated as she bit down on her sandwich

"..." ' _Or maybe it's because something happened and he couldn't get word out in time,'_ Chris thought to himself, his imagination running away with itself.

Rhody quickly stopped that train of thought by flicking his friend's forehead.

"Gah, why?!"'

"Because your face was suggesting that you were thinking about something bad and it's better for you to be annoyed by me than to be in a 'Bleh" mood," the other boy replied boredly… and quickly groaned. It was clear that his impatience was getting to him.

"I'm starting to see that the same is applying to you here," Amy said flatly.

"I can't help it, man. We got to meet Meta Knight!" Rhody practically had stars in his eyes. "Can you imagine meeting other characters that we've only played in games, _real?!_ I want to meet freakin' Mario, man!"

"...I guess I get where you're coming from, but...eh, whatever," Chris sighed, poking his food. He didn't want to be down, but...after all that happened, it didn't really seem all that special to him anymore…

 _ ***FLICK***_

"Would you freakin' cut that out, you moron?!"

"NEVAAAAR!"

Amy sighed at the display before hearing a tone come out of her 3DS! "Uh, guys?" She pointed to her bag.

"Oh, guess it's that time again then," Chris noted with a sigh.

Amy pulled out her 3DS. Then, given that no one else was around at the moment, she opened it up and hit the A button.

X popped up on the screen. " _I hope you all are doing well today."_

"We're fine, X. What's up this time?" Amy asked.

" _A few reports from Mario's world seem to indicate the onset of a Corrupted Zone is upon it. We haven't been able to see one of those happen; I was unconscious when the Zone in the Nexus formed. While we still have to deal with it, of course, this is also an unprecedented moment to allow us to figure out what the true cause of them might be. To be perfectly honest, the Glitch level being this high never really sat well with me,"_ he admitted.

"Did I hear Mario?"

"Quiet, Rhody!" Amy hissed at her friend. "Um, yeah. We'll make sure to come right away, X."

" _Then in that case…"_

The 3DS screen started glowing once again.

' _Aw man, we get to go to the Mushroom Kingdom!'_

* * *

"This ain't the Mushroom Kingdom," Rhody said to himself as he looked around where they had teleported after getting to The Nexus.

" _No, this is Sarasaland,"_ X agreed.

"From Mario Land? Daisy's homeland?" Chris asked in curiosity.

"That'd explain the pyramids," Amy said aloud as she looked at the enormous stone structures.

"Well, I guess this is as close as I'll get to visiting Egypt," Rhody muttered. "Alrighty, X, point us in the direction on where that Corrupted Zone's formin'."

" _Right."_ The Biometal proceeded to float off in said direction, with the trio following after him.

"...Man, I wish we had Pegasus right now…"

"You have a _Pegasus?!"_

"Yeah...he woulda really helped with travel, honestly...but he's probably still back in my game."

 **~3!~**

"Welp, no helping that now." Rhody stated, his Starrior Driver already on his waist.

 **~2!~**

Chris stared. "...You're really gonna-?"

 **~1!~**

"Henshin!" The cylinder of energy surrounded him, and Starrior emerged!

"...Was that really necessary?!" Amy shouted at her armor clad friend.

"I'm not walking in the desert. This suit'll keep me at a comfy room temperature for a while." He tapped his helmet, emphasizing that he was now out of the blistering heat.

The jerk.

So it came to no surprise that Chris shot him a venomous look for that. "Oh, yeah, real nice. Meanwhile _some_ of us can't do that because we wouldn't know where we're going," he hissed.

' _What a baby...Mario got through here fine, and yeah I know he's Mario, but still!'_

Meanwhile, Amy was glaring daggers at Rhody.

"Uhhh… right, let's go, guys!" The cool, and not in that way, Starrior made sure to go up front, making sure to not look at the two angry teens that were likely to suffocate him in his sleep if they stay over night.

X just sighed to himself as he saw the ridiculousness unfolding behind him.

* * *

"So, this the place?" Rhody looked at the area X had directed them towards, the others now suited up themselves now that they're close.

"Looks like it…" Chris noted, seeing the seething red and black area around the oasis they had gotten close to.

"...Why did it form _here?_ This place seems...totally random in comparison to places like the Halberd," Amy wondered.

"Oath, what do you think? ...Oath?" Starrior's friend was currently distracted by something else.

Namely, something that was high up in the sky.

"Chris? What are you starrrrriiiinnngg….." The Princess's eyes widened as her eyes caught what her friend was seeing.

"What the fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…." ' _A UFO?'_

Indeed, Rhody, Chris, and Amy were all looking at an Unidentified Flying Object.

"...What's up with how it's flying?" Starrior looked at the flight pattern of the saucer.

It looked… herky jerky.

"...For all we know, it's Dr. Wily. He's never seemed to have good control over saucers…" Chris couldn't help but say.

" _...No, I'm pretty sure it's not Wily…"_ X mentioned.

"It's not?"

"I don't know… if it were a Wily Saucer, I'd probably be covering my ears by now," Amethyst muttered as she looked at the object fly in… well, it couldn't even be called a pattern at this point.

"Uh, guys, I think it's getting closer!" Rhody yelled as the UFO began to start looking bigger from where he was looking.

"Okay...UFO...Sarasaland...wait, is it-?" Chris started to question.

"It's coming this way!" the Princess shouted in horror, turning to run as the Flying Object was heading to collide with the sand dune!

"Oh, come on!" the...Mega Rider?...complained, following after her.

"CRAAPP! NOT LIKE THIS!" The one overreacting was Starrior.

 _ **BOOOSSH!**_

"GAAAHH!" all three screamed as they were thrown in the air by the UFO colliding with the sand dune!

And it didn't stop! The Saucer kept going, and Model X splatted against its windshield.

"D-ah!" the Rider let out as he got splatted, before sliding off as it kept going.

He landed, face in the sand, though thankfully he didn't get a mouthful of it like last time.

"OUCH!" The Princess also landed. "I think I hit my back on that thing…" she said while rubbing said area. "How're you holding up?"

"Ow…" Well, Chris's response said everything there.

"...Did Rhody get buried in the sand?" The girl looked around for a trace of the Rider. "I don't see him-GHK!" Chris glanced at her quizzically, and looked in the direction she began to point to.

"HELP MEEEEEE!" the Space Rider cried out as he tightly held onto the UFO for dear life.

"How did it get so far away so fast?!" That was the question on all three of their minds.

"AEON, HANG ON!" Model X called out in panic.

' _Though...shoot! How are we supposed to keep up with that?!'_

"Man, I really _really_ want my pegacorn right now…" Amethyst groaned.

"Wait, I thought you said it was a pegasus, not a pegacorn?"

' _Wouldn't the proper term be_ alicorn _anyway…?'_

"Not the point!"

" _Chris,"_ X alerted him, " _they're flying towards that town with a castle!"_

"Looks like we'll have to head there then," Chris said determinedly. Like he was gonna let his friend get abducted by a flying saucer!

...Especially as he'd seen _who_ was in there…

"Come on, Amy, let's go!" he declared, scooping up the princess into a bridal carry before continually dashing after the UFO.

* * *

"GHHK! LOSING… GRIP!" Starrior desperately tried to cling to to the edge of the saucer, but UFO's don't really have much to grab onto thanks to their sleek surface.

' _Come on! Just make your grip tighter!'_ Dents started form thanks to the Rider's strength! ' _Yes! If I keep applying pressure, I can create something to hang onto-'_

 ***CREANGK!***

That. Was the sound of the edge of the UFO snapping off of it.

"...OOOOOOHHHH SHIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiii…"

Rhody was in freefall now, screaming his throat out at the rapidly increasing… town streets!?

' _The sand won't break my impact! If only I could… wait! Doi! Of course!'_

Starrior concentrated, trying to bring out the one thing he knew would save him from a world of pain!

His belt glowed, brightly… and out came the Warp Star!

"Yes!" He grabbed onto it, the transport beginning to shake as it got ready to fly. "With this I can-"

 ***BOOOMM!***

That was the sound of Starrior and the Warp Star making impact with the floor.

And Warp Stars had a tendency to be quite… _explosive_ in their landings…

* * *

"Oh no, he landed," the Princess muttered as she and Model X ran through the crowd full of humans and desert-colored Toads alike, many beginning to run in the opposite direction of the explosion.

"That seemed...extra explosive compared to how it should have…" Model X mentioned.

" _He might have tried to cushion his fall with the Warp Star. Unfortunately…"_

"Warp Stars explode," Chris finished what X was saying.

"...I'm gettin' kinda tired of only hearing one half of the conversation…"

"Sorry...not like I can do much about it…"

One more corner to turn, and the duo made it to the landing site!

"Rhody! Can you hear us?!" Amethyst called out.

"Ehe… _Ehehehehe~_ " A… delirious laugh came from the smoking crater.

"Oh boy."

Starrior emerged from the smoke, although he was comically covered in soot, turning his pink armor into a shade of grey.

"Hey guys… how're you doing… I _exploded…_ " He… didn't sound like he was all there at the moment…

"...So should we knock him out, or wait for him to fall over?" Amethyst questioned of Model X.

 ***Thud***

"...Never mind." She began to look around. He had… well, caused quite a bit of damage. "We should probably pick him up before-"

"Freeze! Don't move!"

"...Why did you tempt fate?" Chris questioned wearily, hanging his head.

"Force of habit?" Amethyst tried to grin as she slowly put her hands above her head.

* * *

The three were walked into the castle, Toad Guards with spears making sure they didn't try anything funny.

...Although let's be fair, the fact that most of them were quivering in their boots didn't really speak wonders about whether or not they'd succeed if the trio did try something.

Though they had to put Rhody on a forklift just to get him to move. The boy was still a giggling mess.

"...I still think knocking him out would be the better option here," Chris grumbled to himself.

"Well, it's not like we can do that _now,"_ Amy pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah…"

Soon, one last door was opened and the three were now in the impressively big throne room, with someone they could immediately tell was the King sitting at the throne, a firm but questioning look on his face.

' _Oh boy...that must be Daisy's father or something…'_

They all stopped, they were now within speaking distance with the King.

"Guard, why have you brought these three here? And…" He looked over to the mess that was Rhody. "...Why was one brought here via forklift?"

"Um...I'm pretty sure there's a reasonable explanation," Chris volunteered.

"...Now if only we knew where it was," Amy snarked, before clapping a hand over her mouth in embarrassment.

"This boy," the Head Toad Guard said as he walked up next to Rhody, "was seen falling from the UFO that came here earlier today. The reason why it came back is unclear, but he fell from it and caused a large amount of damage to the market in town. These two," he pointed towards Amy and Chris, "were also found at the scene."

' _Oh boy…'_ Chris gulped in nervousness. "U-Um...can I just say? We were like...out in the desert, and then the UFO came out of nowhere. Rhody got caught on it, and, uh…"

"I exploded, hehehe.."

"Rhody, shut up!" Amy whispered harshly

"No, no, I got this…" Chris sighed. "X, sorry about this."

" _Wait, what are you-?!"_

 ***CLONK***

Chris grabbed X and used him to bonk Rhody on the head, finally shutting him up by making him go unconscious.

" _...Ow."_

"...While I believe you are telling the truth," the King said, ignoring the possible concussion he gave to the other boy, "I still can not quell my suspicion. You appear out of nowhere during the same day that _he_ returns."

' _So...that_ was _him…'_ Chris thought to himself.

"Um… Your Majesty," Amy stepped up a bit, trying not to set off the Toad Guards, "which he are you referring to?" ' _Don't tell me it's…'_

"...I think I know who His Majesty is talking about...UFO in Sarasaland, who else could it be but...well, that does explain why I saw him when I got plastered onto his windshield…" Chris grumbled to himself.

"Tatanga…" the redhead muttered under her breath.

"Indeed." The King nodded, now seeing that these three were not associated with him. "Tatanga has returned to Sarasaland, and he has kidnapped my daughter."

"He's kidnapped Daisy, again?!"

' _...You'd think that couldn't happen given that she can send_ Bowser _skyrocketing with a single slap…'_

"No…"

"Huh?"

"He's kidnapped my _other_ daughter."

"..."

' _...Daisy has a younger sister? ...Hm...I…'_

"...Oh!" Chris remembered. _Azalea_. She'd only shown up in Mario Golf...but according to Camelot's site, she was considered to be Daisy's younger sister.

"So…" Amy was trying to wrap her head around this. She was more into game making, not so much game trivia. "Tatanga's kidnapped your daughter, not the same one that he kidnapped last time, but is basically doing the same thing again."

"Correct."

"What's his motive, though?" Chris wondered, rubbing his chin. "Last time, I'm pretty sure Tatanga kidnapped Daisy because Wario hired him to keep Mario busy while he took over his place…"

"No doubt he's trying to hold her for ransom, trying to strike out on his own, the scoundrel."

"So what you're saying…" a previously delirious voice spoke up with a slight amount of pain being heard in it, "Is that the Princess has been captured and needs some rescuing?"

Amy turned and put her hands to her mouth, "Rhody?!" Mostly because he was now featuring an impressive bump on his head. "I… thought you were still knocked out."

"It's kinda hard for me to stay on the snooze cruise with how much it echoes in this place," the boy said while rubbing the bump. "Gah, I don't remember landing on my head…"

Chris did his best to look away, whistling as to not draw his friend's attention.

"Your Majesty," the user of the Starrior Driver spoke out, "if you'll let us, we can go and rescue your daughter."

"Wait, hold up!" the Head Guard interrupted. "Your Majesty, you don't really intend for these kids to go and do this, do you?"

"Hmm…" The King of Sarasaland closed his eyes and thought for a few moments. "...Our attempts to contact the Mario Brothers haven't been successful, they're likely off on another adventure. And Daisy is off in the Mushroom Kingdom on another Golf Tournament."

' _Wait, she's seriously out doing that?'_ Amy thought.

"We must act quickly. Besides," he looked at the boy who went and offered his services in the first place, "He's still standing and talking after such a fall. I have a feeling that they have some tricks up their sleeves."

"I, uh...guess you could say that," Chris said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Very well." The King stood up, "We will give you some supplies for the journey ahead. Please," he looked them all in the eye, "make sure my daughter's safe."

Amy nodded, her eyes hardening as her resolve set in.

Chris gulped slightly in nervousness, before nodding himself.

Rhody gave a thumbs up, though he stumbled forward a bit before catching himself.

* * *

 _Later…_

"Man, didn't actually think a Mushroom could heal me up so well," Starrior muttered, relishing in the now nonexistent bump on his head. "Amy what other supplies do we have?"

"We got more Mushrooms, a few Syrups, I see some Refreshing Herbs in here…" Amethyst listed off the things in the bag of supplies."I'm not really sure what Syrups would do in a Non-RPG setting, though."

"Well, probably restore your magical energy in your case. In ours...probably just recharge our finish...ers…" Model X trailed off as he realized he didn't know anything about how _he_ did finishers.

Sure, there was Charge Shots, but unless he was missing something, he was literally just a Mega Man playing at being a Rider at the moment.

"Right. Just wish I had an easier way of eating the stuff with a helmet on…" the other Rider muttered. "Anyway, we should hurrying things along. We've been given info on the direction the UFO headed, but who knows how relevant that'll be by the time we get there. The Warp Star's won't come out, I think it needs some time to collect itself…" Thankfully, the King had provided them with some coins to seek a transport.

"Let's see… it should be…. Here! Right where the Head Guard said it'd be!"

It was some sort of ranch that was at the edge of town. Pretty big space.

But there was one big thing that drew their attentions…

"Yoshis!" Amethyst squeed and ran to one of the stables, leaving a trail of dust behind.

The others weren't too far off, either.

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod~!"

"...You know, I don't know what I was expecting, but Yoshis weren't it," Chris blinked in surprise.

"Okay, okay…" Starrior was trying to calm down from the fact that he was meeting _real_ Yoshis.

"..." Something occurred to Model X that seemed kinda important.

"Uh...heya, fellas. So, uh...do you normally hang out around here?" he asked the Yoshis. You know, because Yoshis were sentient and all, so for them to be hanging around _stables…_

"Oh yeah. We're just on break, yosh," one said after munching on a fruit.

"Woah!" Starrior hopped back a bit, forgetting that Yoshis could talk… the games could get inconsistent with that.

"You all customers? Yosh," a green Yoshi asked. "You'll want to go inside if you want to Rent one of our services, yosh."

"Alright. Thank-Amy, stop petting the Yoshi, we need to get inside."

"Awwww..." Both Amethyst and the Yoshi she was petting weren't happy about their fun ending.

Model X sighed. "You can go back to doing that once we rent their services…" he pointed out.

The three went inside and came across a sort of saloon. And it was filled with Yoshis.

"It's like a Rainbow in here, I swear," the Star Rider muttered.

"Howdy, yosh," a light brown Yoshi greeted the three when they got near the counter, "You all here for a fruit juice? Or do you want to Rent a Yoshi for their services? Yosh."

' _What's with all the Yosh's?'_

" _You're asking the wrong Reploid...er, Biometal, Chris."_

"Um...the latter," Model X mentioned. "It's, uh...I don't know how much we can say about why we need to, but, uh…"

"Let's just say we need to chase down a UFO, and leave it at that," Starrior helped his friend get the words out. "...By the way, how good are your fruit juices?"

"Ignore that question," the Princess shoved Starrior aside and asked, "How many of you guys are good at running in the desert?"

"Well, there's a good amount of us, yosh. But if you need someone right now, I can ring 'em up for ya." The Yoshi pulled out a phone, pressing a few keys before speaking into it. "Hey, you guys got a job, yosh. You three up for it?" Some muttering was heard from the end of the line before they hung up. "They'll be here in a moment, yosh."

And in a moment they came. The three Yoshis, blue, magenta, and white, walked up to the counter.

"Hey, you said you had a job for us? Yosh," Blue asked the Juice Mixer manning the counter.

"Yep. These three right here need ya to chase a UFO."

"Wait, are we talking like the one from this morning?" Magenta asked.

"Yeah." Starrior walked up to them. "You guys up for the job?"

"Well, yosh, jobs like this one typically see good pay, so…" White looked like it had money signs in its eyes.

"I'll take that as a yes," the Princess sighed.

* * *

After going through the payment plans, the group of now six walked out of the Ranch.

"Alrighty, let's get this show on the road." Starrior hopped on the Magenta Yoshi, though he took a bit of time to get used to the weird saddle.

"Uh...guess I'll, uh…" Model X hesitantly got on the Blue Yoshi.

"First time riders, eh?"

"I, uh...guess you could say that…"

"Well, yosh, your friend over there seems to be getting the hang of it." Blue looked at Amethyst, who was currently hugging the White Yoshi she was on. "Though I can't tell if it's because she looks so happy right now."

"Amy, which way did the UFO head?" The words from Starrior helped get Gemworld's savior out of her daze. She began to look around, her eyes settling on a direction.

"That way." The Yoshis all turned to face that direction.

"Yosh, okay! You all better hang on," Blue spoke, getting ready to run.

Model X swallowed a nervous gulp, before proceeding to do so.

And then…

 _ **FWOOOSH!**_

The three Yoshis took off, leaving clouds of sand in their wake!

"WOAH WOAH WOAH! I didn't know Yoshis could run this fast!" Starrior struggled to hang on and not fall off!

"Yosh! We Yoshis of the Yoshi Rental Service train for this type of speed!"

"I can see that!" Model X yelped.

Meanwhile, Princess Amethyst had actually gotten past the initial panic at the speed they were going and was getting exhilarated! They were going at top speed, on Yoshis!

She'd thought you could only get this type of experience on a Chocobo, or something!

"Oath!" Rhody called out, his hand above his eyes to help block the sunlight, "You spot any shiny objects in the sky, yet?!"

"Um...not yet!"

"Hey, fellas," the White Yoshi spoke out, "How'd you want us to handle that Pyramid? Go around it?"

"Huh?" Amy looked ahead and indeed, they were getting close to a Pyramid. A big one. "...Let's stop near the entrance," the Princess decided on.

Soon, the group stopped and gathered around the Entrance of the Pyramid.

"Sooo, what exactly are we supposed to do here? Yosh," Blue asked.

"Um...well, how long would it take to go around?" Model X questioned.

"Well, not too long," as Magenta began to speak, Starrior decided to check the closed door that led to the inside of the structure. "It really all depends. We can start hopping over it, but that comes at the risk of tripping, or we can go around. Yosh, it'd take a little longer, but is safe-"

"Uh, guys?" Rhody interrupted and brought attention to the door by banging on it.

It gave off distinctly non-stonelike sounds.

"How many pyramids have metal doors?"

"...You mean besides Eggman's pyramid hideout? Probably none."

The two Riders used their combined strength to easily pry the doors open, revealing what _looked_ like a normal pyramid cave.

"Considering that the door's made of metal and there are lit torches in here," Amethyst began to walk inside, her White Yoshi following, "I'd say we found the base of operations."

"What's he need with a pyramid, anyway? I mean...well, hopefully there's no rail grinding. None of us are Wisp." Model X elbowed Starrior in jest.

"Yeah, though I could go for some rockin' Egyptian tunes 'bout now," his friend muttered.

Starrior grabbed a torch to better light the way, and the six ventured into the pyramid.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Blue muttered.

"..."

' _Now he's said it…'_ Model X thought to himself.

And right after the utterance of the cursed words, a slab from the ceiling fell right in front of them!

"Gah!" Rhody fell off his ride in shock.

"Okay, if that was supposed to be a booby trap, it went off a little early, don't… ya…" Magenta stopped talking due to the ever increasing buzzing sound…

Then, big flies that wore goggles emerged from the hole in the ceiling!

"Fighter Flies!"

"Why am I not surprised?" Model X sighed, beginning to charge his Buster up.

Flies began to charge at the group! The Yoshis spat out their tongues at the foes, swallowing several up!

"Hooray for back up!" the Star Rider declared after kicking a Fly back.

"You can say that again!" Model X declared, firing off a Level 1 Charge Shot at a group of the Flies.

"Huh, these guys sure go down a lot more…" Amethyst swung her blade, and several Flies were launched back, some hitting the wall, "comically."

"Well, it's important to remember _where_ exactly we are," Model X shrugged, firing some uncharged shots this time.

After beating and stomping a few more Flies, they finally wised up and ran off back into the hole in the ceiling, it closing up with a metal _shwing_.

"What chumps," Starrior declared, stretching a bit.

Model X just sighed in exasperation. "Just don't get too cocky…" he said in disapproval.

"Hey, we can't help it if we're awesome." The Rider held up a hand, to which Magenta eagerly high fived.

"Oh great, another one. Yosh." Model X could tell that if he could face palm, Blue would right now.

"Tell me about it...he's not usually like this, but I think his ego's gotten to his head…" Model X said, hanging his head.

"I _can_ hear you, you know."

"Oh, sweetie," Amethyst patted Starrior's shoulder, "you were meant to."

"GGHHKEHK! HURRKGHKK!" The glare Rhody was giving the group sans Magenta was very… well, chokey, in lack of a better term.

"...You got something stuck in your throat or something?"

" _That's what it sounds like to me…"_

"You guys are _lucky_ that I'm not one to let my anger start getting to me!" Starrior lied.

Which Model X was well aware of. ' _How much of an idiot does he think I am?'_

* * *

The group continued to traverse the fake tomb.

Which involved climbing down a lot of stairs.

"If I didn't know this was a hidden base, I would say that the sand should've caused these caves to collapse a while ago," Amy muttered, starting to get a little creeped out at how long it's been. "How far down are we?"

"Probably enough that we've reached 'Underground' Levels," White commented.

"...Guys!" Magenta looked forward and was surprised to see a literal light at the end of the tunnel!

"Finally, no more cramped hallways!" Starrior's relieved words were reflected by Magenta picking up the pace and running toward the light!

"Uh, hang on! Is that even a good idea?!" Model X called after them.

The two kept going, light growing brighter and brighter, until they reached the end!

It was a huge hangar, containing multiple Flying Saucers.

And their crew.

All now staring at Starrior and his Yoshi.

"...Uh, hey," the Rider waved, "We got lost from our tour guide. If someone could point us in the right direct-WAAH!" The spears, Bullet Biffs and fireballs were the response to his query. Thankfully the Yoshi managed to dash away from the onslaught.

"You moron!" Model X chided, before firing the twin blasts of a Level 3 Charge right down the center aisle, allowing the others to rush the sides.

"For the record!"

 **~SWORD ON!~**

"I'm gonna be filing a complaint with your supervisors!" Starrior quipped as he leaped off Magenta and slashed several Bunbuns with his Sword and the torch he was still holding.

"Because Tatanga will really listen to you!" Amethyst pointed out, sliding into a whole group with her sword and swinging it with grace.

Blue went to stick its tongue to a Koopa, reeling back in. The Yoshi then went to jump… and went back down. It jumped again, but nothing happened.

Several Goombos were charging toward Blue, so the Yoshi spat the Koopa out, it exploding like a bomb!

"Keep forgetting the Koopas here don't give us anything." The Yoshi began to swirl some stuff in their mouth, "Guess we gotta use this stuff!" Blue spat out several large bubbles, many trapping Tatanga's troops!

Several Bullet Biffs had their sites on Magenta, but before they even hit the Yoshi, it puffed up into a huge balloon, the Biffs bouncing off harmlessly.

Meanwhile, White was busy swallowing up several enemies, including Bombshell Koopas.

" _*Gulp*_ Ah, I could always handle the spicy stuff. Here's hoping I don't get too filled up soon!"

"Hah!" Starrior kicked away a Goombo, "Yah!" slashed an oncoming Bullet Biff, "Taaah!" and leaped to stomp on a Gao. "Geez, they just keep coming, huh?"

That was when the UFO behind him exploded. "GAAAAHH!" Sending the Rider flying off and landing on his butt, dropping the torch.

Model X immediately swiveled as he heard his friend's pain, seeing what had been responsible.

A lion-like sphinx that was creeping towards them, breathing fire. King Totomesu.

"Well then...I wonder if he'll baa like a sheep?" he questioned, firing shots at the large sphinx-like creature.

" _...Exactly_ why _would he do that?"_ X questioned in confusion.

"Um...long story."

The pellets hit the mighty beast, making it launch several fireballs out of anger! ...As well as baa like a sheep in pain.

"I got it!" Blue yelled as the Yoshi took a fireball into their mouth.

"Wait, did that think just-AAH!" Starrior had no time to question the weird fact that a lion-sphinx sounded like a sheep as he hastily dodged a fireball.

"Okay," Amethyst blocked a blast with her shield, "This thing's a lot more threatening when it isn't just sitting around… though that's kinda detracted from it baa-ing like a sheep."

The King baaed in anger at that comment.

"Hey, it's your own fault!" Model X declared, firing a Level 1 Charge Shot.

The creature attempted to block the blast, only for the shot to hurt his paw. It baaed in pain… again.

"Alright, sheep!" The Star Rider charged in, sword ready, " let's see how you deal with getting _sheared!_ "

' _Man, that was lame.'_

' _...Why am I feeling the urge to shear_ him _?'_ Model X thought to himself in confusion.

"HAH!" The Rider leaped into the air and grabbed ahold of the lion-sphinx's locks. Just as he was about to swing his blade down, the beast began to buck and shake, making hanging on the only real option!

"It's just like you to get into a hairy situation!" Amethyst sighed.

" _..."_

' _...X? Why are you shuddering?'_

" _Sorry, I just...have bad memories regarding puns…" 'If I had my body, I'd punch Cut Man for all of those scissors puns...and Zero as well, because he just fed into them.'_

"If you're not busy joking about, I'd like it if you'd all help-MEEE!" Starrior's cries were stopped by being thrown off King Totomesu, "Gah, my spine!" and colliding against a UFO.

As the boy tried getting up, he spotted something, "Oh, hey… my torch…" the pain was starting to affect him, again.

The King took aim, and fired several balls of flames at the ceiling, bringing down several lights!

Starrior caught a glimpse of this and tried to roll under the UFO for protection, but flaming debris hit the saucer!

 _ **BOOOOOOOOOOMMM!**_

It exploded in a large fireball.

"AEON/RHODY!" both Rider and Princess exclaimed, horror etched into their voices.

"Oh that does it, I actually liked that guy!" Magenta's tongue grabs a hunk of flaming debris, and spits it out at the sphinx! The creature ducked from the attack, and launched more of its own!

Blue tried to counter the fireballs with its bubbles… to minimal effect. "Drat! What I wouldn't give to have water breath right now!"

"He's launching," White swallowed another fireball, "too many!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Model X roared in anger, firing an incessant number of his plasma shots at the being who seemed to have killed one of his best friends! Amethyst was in the same state, charging in with her shield protecting her from the blasts as she prepared to start doing _more_ than shearing this sheep.

Unfortunately, the second she got in range, Totomesu jumped her, pouncing onto her!

"GHHK! Get off me you stupid Sheep-Lion!" The Princess tried to no avail to land a swing on the creature!

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Model X demanded, firing a Level 2 Charge Shot right at the sphinx-like creature's midsection.

The King was flung away, but as soon as it landed on his paws, he launched several more fireballs at the two! Amy was quick enough to raise her shield to protect her and Chris. He would've increased the pressure, but Totomesu was buffeted by hunks of flaming scrap by the three Yoshis!

A tongue wrapped around the Princess and Rider, and yanked them back to the Yoshis, White putting its tongue back and kept up the assault on the lion.

Amethyst's arms were trembling. Both in exhaustion, anger, and sorrow.

"Rhody…" she wanted to keep fighting… that thing took away one of the few friends she had… but… how can she…

 ***Rumble***

' _What?'_ That sound… it was coming from…

 _ **BAM!**_

A large chunk of the wrecked saucer flew off, hitting King Totomesu in the head. And the flames the wreck were producing… began to _recede_.

"What…" Model X whispered in shock.

'You're gonna pay for that, you sorry excuse for a housecat…"

 **~FIRE~**

"That _really_ _ **hurt!**_ " Starrior screamed in rage as the flames were sucked into the new Fire Switch in his hand! Unlike Fourze's, it seemed to look more like an oven dial.

He slammed it into the free space in his Driver, and activated it by twisting the dial to "HOT", while deactivating the Sword Switch at the same time.

 **~FIRE ON!~**

The sounds of building up flames coincided with fire surrounding the Star Rider's body, pieces of his armor changing.

Part of it began to turn from pink to red and orange, flame patterns decorating his arms and legs.

The light blue triangular eyepiece shifted into a circular, green shape. What Amy and Chris recognized as what would usually be Fire Kirby's crown was instead forming on the sides of the eye, connecting to the back.

And then, he ignited. The top half of Starrior's Helmet, forearms, and lower legs erupted into powerful flames, looking as though water would not even put them out.

Kamen Rider Starrior had achieved Fire States!

The Blazing Rider pulled his left arm back, and flung it forward! The flames on his arm were launched to King Totomesu, flinging him back!

" _...I'm being steadily reminded of Fefnir right now…"_

"Aeon! You're okay!" Model X exclaimed in relief.

"Yeah," Rhody stretched out his arms, "Though I've got a lot of pent up aggression right now," his left arm reignited. "Feel the need to take it out on a certain Sheep-Lion."

"Long as you don't take it out on us afterwards...I don't know about you, but I kinda don't want to be charbroiled. Once was enough," Amethyst mentioned.

"Heh." The Rider chuckled, before setting his entire body aflame! He practically launched himself like a bullet at the Sphinx!

The creature saw this, and breathed a large stream of fire, engulfing Starrior whole!

"Didn't anyone teach you…" his voice rang out in the blaze, "That fighting Fire with Fire doesn't work?!" The Rider jumped from the inferno and unleashed a fiery punch to the lion's snout!

" _Fefnir would argue otherwise."_

Starrior landed. "Well, it could work, though the flames would need to be better than mine."

King Totomesu was furious at this point. He lept to pounce on this kid who dared to mock his flames!

Only to get Ground Pounded by the Magenta Yoshi! The pressure didn't let up, though, as Blue began to toss eggs right at the lion's head! White continued the onslaught by launching heaps of scrap at his sides!

Meanwhile, Model X was charging up for a Level 3 Charge! "TAKE THIS!" he yelled, firing off both blasts. They impacted the sphinx's body harshly, launching him back!

"HAAAAAAAAHHH!" and Princess Amethyst dropped down, giving the King a serious concussion with her blade.

"Time to finish up," Starrior pulled on the lever on his Driver.

 **~FIRE!~**

 _ **LIMIT BREAK!**_

The flames on the Blazing Rider's body grew to an unmatched intensity, his eyepiece changing to a Star shape and spikes began to jut from his crown!

The inferno surrounded him, taking the shape of an eastern dragon…

" **Monster…** " He pulled both arms back, the dragon rearing back its own head.

' _Damn it! I want to get in on that! But I have no idea how to-!'_ Chris thought furiously, before getting interrupted.

" _Hm? Oh. Turn me upside down,"_ X mentioned.

Model X blinked behind his helmet, before hesitantly doing just that.

 **M.E.G.A. SYSTEM: OVERDRIVE INVOKE!**

A torrent of blue energy spread from X and enveloped his partner's entire armor, filling him with a sensation of power as the Overdrive Invoke System (OIS) activated.

"Alright...I think I know how to do this!" Chris grinned behind his helmet as he leaped into the air!

The Princess saw all this and felt… _power_ within her necklace.

She knew this power well, and she quickly grabbed ahold of it!

Purple energy surrounded her, wings reminiscent but different enough from a butterfly forming behind her! She flew back, her power gathering in her hands!

" _ **FLAAAAAME!**_ " Starrior threw his arms forward, his dragon roaring fiercely as it charged forward!

Meanwhile, as he reached the apex of his jump, Model X flipped X back around to his normal orientation.

 **ROCK ON!**

Model X spun once in the air...before going into a very familiar technique! " **Rider...KIIIICK!"** he yelled as he flew at Totomasu foot first, the energy all coalescing around it.

"HAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Purple energy fired from Amethyst's hands, the same power she used to defeat Dark Opal launched forth to finish her current foe!

As Model X flew forward, the Monster Flame coiled around him, just as Princess Amethyst's magic passed through it.

A Monster Purple Dragon Kick collided with King Totomesu.

And a Monster sized explosion rang out inside the hangar.

On the other side, Model X skidded to a halt, sparks flying from his boots as the friction braked his forward momentum.

"Hah...Hah...Phew!" Chris sighed, falling on his back as the Megamerge disengaged. That was both exhilarating, and exhausting…

"That… That was totally AWESOME!' Amy shouted as she landed down, her power spent.

And then pieces of debris fell on one of the few remaining UFO.

"You guys… really did a number on this place, huh?" Blue couldn't help but look at the destruction.

Rhody's response was to fall on his face.

* * *

"Okay, now that we're all healed up, we can finally continue on this little adventure." Starrior stated as he removed a piece of rubble that was blocking the passage that went deeper into the lair. He was extremely thankful that they had so many Mushrooms and Syrups on hand.

"I'm really wondering how he got all that stuff in the first place. I mean, he's not Bowser," Chris pointed out. "He doesn't exactly have an entire Kingdom's economy to run off of…"

"Maybe he took out a loan?" Amy looked on at all the destruction they wrought, including the extra crispy King Totomesu, who was still coughing up smoke in his unconsciousness, "though something tells me that he won't be able to pay it back by the end of this…"

"Yosh...Sounds like the understatement of the year, really," Blue commented, speaking on behalf of all three of the Yoshis.

"Anyhow, I think we got this in the bag. Let's go, everyone!" Starrior raised his hand in the air, pumped at their task nearing its end.

"Uh...sure…" In contrast, Model X was still kinda tired from the, well, invokement of the OIS.

"Don't worry, Chris. Whatever's ahead, we'll make sure to cover your back," the Princess said to her friend in the most reassuring way she can.

Blue was already helping out by giving him a ride, too.

The Group delved deeper into the base, not knowing what they'll find…

* * *

"Sir, the base has been compromised!"

"Yes, yes, tell that to someone who doesn't already know that, you boob! Prepare my Saucer. We'll have to start the next part of the plan _early_."

 _ **BOOOOMMM!**_

"Also, the captive got out… again."

" _*Sigh*_ Why couldn't she be like her sister and stay in her cell!"

"As if Big Sis would do that anymore anyway!"

"Wait, how did you get up here-?!"

 _ **BANG!**_

 _ **Episode 04 - Fin**_

* * *

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Well, that was quite the battle! And something tells me (and that something is me, of course) that things will get tougher for our Heroes.**

 _ **OathToOblivion:**_ ***grumble grumble***

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: What's eating you?**

 _ **OathToOblivion:**_ **Nothing, just...well, you've already gotten two forms in the two chapters since you got your Rider form, while I've been there since Chapter 1, and nothing. I know, I know, not all Riders need Form Changes, but…**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Well, I** _ **was**_ **planning to do something…**

 _ **OathToOblivion:**_ **...You have my attention. But off-screen! We can't tell** _ **them! -points to audience-**_

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Tune in next time, folks. Have a Happy Holidays!**


	5. Episode 5

_**OathToOblivion:**_ **Okay, I'll admit it. This was kinda cool.**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring :**_ **Yeah, a bit shorter than the last, but I still enjoyed it.**

 _ **OathToOblivion:**_ **Well, I might be slightly biased given the whole...thing, and all.**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring :**_ **Eh, that's fine. Anyway, we pumped this one out a bit more quickly than the last chapter. Hope you all enjoy it!**

* * *

' _...Ow…'_ a certain red and black Biometal thought to himself as he reawoke. " _What happened?"_

 _ **-Initiating data log…-**_

 _ **-Biometal Model Z/Unit Zero (DWN-Infinity) online-**_

" _Damn...stuck as a Biometal, huh?"_

 _ **-Systems under repair-**_

 _ **-Warning: Learning System offline-**_

 _ **-Form System offline-**_

 _ **-Megamerge protocols offline-**_

 _ **-Main chassis offline-**_

" _Alright, alright, enough with the offlines! What do I have_ online _?!"_ Zero questioned his diagnostic computer, interrupting it before it could keep going on.

 _ **-Double Megamerge protocols online-**_

 _ **-Cyber elf projection system online-**_

 _ **-Flight boosters online-**_

 _ **-M.E.G.A. System disruptors online-**_

" _Well, better than nothing. At least I can still help X,"_ he sighed. ...Speaking of, where was his friend? It wasn't exactly like him to leave Zero alone like this…

Zero, as Biometal Model Z, started floating, taking in the area around him. It appeared to be a warehouse of some kind in the Nexus. He idly noted a computer in the room, before he did a small double-take, seeing a message on it for him.

 _-Zero_

 _-Gone to Sarasaland with Princess Amethyst and the others to investigate a Corrupted Zone in the midst of formation. If you happen to wake up, I'll be back soon._

 _-X_

Ah. So that was where he was. ...Sarasaland? That was in Mario's world…

" _Why is something about Sarasaland ringing a bell?"_ Zero questioned himself.

...Wait. A memory he'd gotten from his own Corrupted state resurfaced.

" _...No! He's walked right into a trap! Damn it, X!"_ Zero cursed, before immediately flooring it as fast as his Biometal body could fly over to the Teleporter.

He had to help X before it was too late!

* * *

 _ **VG Heroes: Defenders of the Game World**_

 _ **Episode 5 - Zero Hour**_

"You really gotta wonder what the point of making these hallways were," Starrior muttered as the group continued their trek through the hidden base. "I mean, how many of Tatanga's troops actually use this things?"

"I mean...I dunno," Model X shrugged.

Amethyst had a different opinion though. "Well, from a level design perspective it makes sense. Can't have the hero get through the whole thing so easily, you know?"

"If _I_ were the villain, I'd just have this lead to an inescapable room of spikes."

"Something tells me you wouldn't make a good villain," Blue pointed out, "You'd probably gloat too much."

"I'm just going to ignore that comment…" the Star Rider said, not bothering to look at his friend's ride.

Suddenly, the hallway shook, dust falling from the ceiling.

"...That can't be good," the Princess stated.

"Come on!" The group picked up the pace, running to the next opening to find a UFO taking off, an opening above leading to the outside.

"Dang it! We can't just let it get away!" Model X declared, charging his buster up to try to shoot it down.

However, Amethyst held up her hand, to stop the Rider, "Chris, wait! It's too risky. She could be in there!"

Rhody went forward, "Then we'll just need to take it down from the inside," and summoned up the Warp Star! "This thing's good to go!"

"Alright you three," he turned to the Yoshis, "this is where we part ways. Thanks for all your help."

"I'd suggest that we come with," Magenta began, "but that thing looks like a cramped ride for even three people."

"Give 'em a thwack for me!" White cheered.

"You three save the Princess, alright?" Blue gave the last word.

Amethyst got on the Warp Star, "We will!"

"You ready for this, Oath? These rides can get pretty wild."

"Y-Yeah...I know…" ' _Gulp...come on...here goes nothing.'_ Model X reached out to grab the Warp Star.

Starrior grabbed hold, and the Star began to shake, and it was soon that the Warp Star shot off upward!

"GHK! You weren't kidding about this being wild!" Amy wished that she had some goggles or something. This thing was fast!

"Yeah! I don't think we'd be able to hang on if I pushed this thing to Lightspeed."

And then, less light seemed to be coming through the exit.

"...Though I'm _really_ hoping that it doesn't come to that!" Rhody yelled out as he saw that the exit was closing! "Oath, see if you can stop that thing from closing!"

"What, like this?"

 ***BOOM!***

And large plasma shots fired out from the X-Buster, blowing the exit hatch off the hinges.

"Yeah, exactly like that." The light got brighter and brighter, until they finally reached the surface, into the orange sky!

"It's already getting near sunset?" ' _How long were we down there?'_ Amethyst wondered.

"There it is!" Starrior pointed toward the retreating Flying Saucer. The Warp Star paused, before it began to shiver and speed off!

"We're getting closer! Just a bit more and-GAAH!" The Warp Star swerved out of the way to dodge a laser blast! "Where did that come from?!"

"Uh, Rhody?" Princess Amethyst poked her friend to stare at what lie far ahead of them, "I think Tatanga called for back up."

"...That is a _lot_ of UFOs…" Model X stared at the number of the UFOs behind them.

Sure, they'd blown up a few during the course of the fight, but not only were those particular ones not shooting back, it was clear that they'd barely put a dent in the total number.

"This is really making me wish I had the Starship," the Star Rider muttered before patting Model X on the shoulder, "Okay, dude. I'm leavin' ya in charge of piloting the Warp Star."

"Wait, WHAT?!"

"Good luck, buddy!" With that, Starrior let go of the Warp Star while simultaneously activating a Switch.

 **~FIRE ON!~**

He had entered Fire States, and immediately ignited, launching himself liked a bullet right above Tatanga's Ship.

He fell down and landed on it, then turned to face the pilot inside.

Starrior… wasn't expecting to see what he saw.

He waved to the occupants.

Then fired a blast of flames to the outer section of the saucer.

The UFO began to wobble and slowly descend.

With his job done, Starrior launched himself off again, right into a UFO and making it explode!

"Chris," Amethyst deadpanned.

"Yes?"

"Why is Rhody insane?"

"...He didn't used to be like this from what I remember."

The Blazing Rider was continuing to do this, trying to take down as many Saucers as he could.

"Starting to think the power's gone to his head a bit…"

"I'm feeling a little…" No, no...Chris didn't want to think like that!

"Let's just go take out Tatanga. His ship's already… huh?"

The ship was indeed going down… but it was getting near the Corrupted Zone, which had slightly grown in size!

"...Um...why is it over there?" Model X questioned.

"You don't think?" the Princess looked to her friend, "...Chris, let's speed up a bit. I think we need to have a _talk_ with Tatanga."

"...Yeah, just as soon as I figure out how to control this thing…"

* * *

"Gaahhh…" Tatanga nursed one of the many bumps and bruises he had with an ice pack.

This was just perfect. Not only was his captive being very… _difficult_ , but now his UFO was taken down by some flame haired punk.

It wasn't even the Mario Brothers who were doing this! Just some no named punks!

"As soon as we get the Generator, though, we'll be home free. The Kingdom will _have_ to do what I command-"

 ***CRASH!"**

"Oooooh, now what?!"

* * *

"Well, you got us here, Chris." Amethyst looked at the hole they made. "Though you might want to work on your aim."

The duo were on the lower area of the ship. Particularly, they looked to be near the engine room.

"It's...not like I've been doing this long…" Model X shook his head to remove the thoughts that were flowing through it. "Anyway, looks like we're going in, right?"

Before she could reply, the two heard a commotion come from outside the room they were in.

"How many times do we need to put you in your cell before-GAH!"

"That answer your question, ya bozo!"

"Where does she keep getting these golf clubs?!"

Model X and Amethyst traded looks, before dashing in. As they stepped into the room, they paused as they saw what appeared to be Azalea herself, beating up Tatanga's mooks with a golf club.

"...She's definitely Daisy's sister…" Model X said in a deadpan.

As she was about to swing down, she caught sight of the two heroes.

"Heeey, you two aren't the Mario Brothers!" One more mook tried to get up, only for Azalea to kick them in the head while they were still down. "For starters, one of you's a girl."

"Yeah, I noticed…" Amethyst lightly snarked, before shaking her head. "Well, it's nice to see that you got yourself out of trouble at least, Princess."

"Pssh. These bucketheads were nothin'." She leaned on her golf club. "Only reason I kept getting put in a cell was 'cuz there were so many of 'em." Azalea then proceeded to look around. "I whittled 'em down, though."

"We can see that…" Model X whistled in appreciation, before shaking his head. "Right, where's Tatanga? We came to put a stop to him."

"In the Control Room," she began to take a few test swings, "though I'm gonna want to go see him first-" The entire saucer shuddered, cutting off Azalea as everyone tried to keep their balance.

"What did that?!" Someone cried, although with all the shaking, no one really knew _who_ said it.

The answers was given when sand started to pour in from the engine room. Specifically, from the entrance created by Amethyst and Model X.

"We landed?" the Princess, uh, Amethyst questioned.

"...Someone should fix that. Preferably not us," Model X decided.

"Come on!" Azalea was already at the next doorway, "We need to hurry and lay the smackdown on Tatanga before he gets away!"

As the second Princess of Sarasaland exited, Amy asked Chris, "Is she _really_ a princess?"

"...I mean...you're a Princess, so…" X's Chosen shrugged.

Said Princess just glared at him.

"Awww, we got jipped!" Azalea yelled as the other two got to the control room, "Tatanga's already hightailed it out of here!" she pointed to the open window.

"He couldn't have gotten too far!" Amethyst rushed out of the window, tried her best to get good traction on the sand.

And then something fell in front of her, sending a ton of sand in the air!

"GAH!" She fell on her behind, and once the sand settled she could see it was… Rhody!

"Ghhh, I'm starting to think that this was a bad idea…" The Rider was trying to push himself up, but was struggling.

Model X sighed, and went to hoist him out of the sand. "How do you get into these things, seriously?"

"Yeah, maybe trying to take on a whole fleet wasn't such a good idea." And then Starrior grabbed Model X's neck and pushed him to the ground with him, dodging a laser blast.

"Gah, why?!"

"Lasers," Azalea responded, also on the ground with them for… some reason. "Wohoa. You really ticked them off, huh?"

"Oath, who the heck is this and why does she look like Dai-you're the Princess, of course you are."

"Name's Azalea. I'd shake your hand, but it's kinda on fire right now."

"I meant, why my _neck?!"_ Model X groaned in the sand.

"Are you seriously complaining about that with lasers being fired around us?!"

"Guys, focus," Amethyst sighed. "Do either of you see Tatanga?"

"Well, I have my face in the ground…" Model X started.

"I asked Rhody and Princess Azalea."

"Oh."

"I think I see a figure running towards…" Starrior squinted his eyes." Oh come on, another Pyramid?!"

"It figures…now can someone let me up?!"

Deciding not to and grab his neck ("Cuz he had to be such a pansy about it." "I HEARD that!"), the Blazing Rider picked Model X up by his jacket and started running to catch up to the alien.

"Guys, wait up, there's still UFOs firing lasers!" Princess Amethyst called out, trying to catch up to them.

"Drat," Starrior panted, "could really go for some proper traction right now."

"You gotta move your legs in a certain way in sand," Azalea helpfully replied.

"Hey, thank-HOW ARE YOU KEEPING UP WITH US?!"

"I work out."

"She's an athlete, Aeon. Golf has sand in it...I think…" Well, now that Chris thought about it…

"Guys, focus!" Amethyst chided. "You keep doing that!"

"Sorry, sorry!"

"Ooh! You're a fan!" Azalea ran next to Model X, "Didn't think one would end up trying to rescue me, though…"

"Stop instigating them!" the other princess yelled in annoyance.

"We're almost to him!" the Blazing Rider yelled. Tatanga looked back and looked panicked, his feet trying to move faster to get away!

"No dice, bub!" Starrior began to pick up the pace.

"Rhody!"

"We got ya right where we want-"

 ***BAAMM!***

"...ya…" The Rider slid downward on the door he face planted against.

"I was gonna tell you that he was already too close to the door," Amethyst deadpanned.

Model X sighed, dragging his friend away from the door. "Hang on, I got this," he mentioned, charging up a Level 3 blast before firing away at the door.

It only left a dent.

"Ghh," Starrior got up and wiped the front of his helmet. "Reinforced. Oath, time for us to up the firepower, don'tcha think?"

"Um...honestly, I'd go for the heat expansion/contraction trick, but...you only have Fire, X's VWS isn't working, and Leviathan isn't here. So unless either of the princesses here know Ice Magic, or we find an Ice Flower…" Model X turned to said princesses.

"Don't look at me, Ice Flowers don't grow in Sarasaland," Azalea replied.

"Uh, fine. Amy, get a Syrup ready for me."

* * *

The door bulged outward like a red hot bubble, before exploding, a stream of dragonic flames pouring out.

Rhody was busy sucking in as much of the syrup from the bottle as he could, "BWAAAHH! You can practically taste the Maple Tree. Anyway, watch your step." he warned before quickly reassuming his transformation.

" _That doesn't sound healthy. They may want to check the expiration date on those Syrups,"_ X commented.

Chris jumped slightly as he stepped in. ' _Oh, X...I'd...eheh...almost forgotten you were there.'_

" _Sorry, something's just been nagging at me for a while now. Anyway, let's not lose focus."_

' _Right.'_

The quartet made their way into the Pyramid. It was a hallway, again, but one that was a lot bigger.

"What would they need to have such a big hallway, for?" Azalea questioned.

"Maybe they're building something?" Starrior guessed.

"I could get that. But what'd need so… much.. Space…" Princess Amethyst saw the answer right in front of her.

Mechanical. That was all they could really refer to this monstrosity of a machine. Pipes going in random zigzags, steam coming out but no steam engine in sight, and various cables that reminded one more of muscle tissue than wiring.

"What the heck _is_ that?" Model X stared in surprise and...a whole bunch of stuff.

" _Chris,_ " X spoke, slight panic in his voice, " _I'm getting the same readings I got when we went to the Halberd…"_

"The same readings...as on the Halberd? But then that means…" Chris's eyes widened behind his helmet in realization.

"That this is a Corrupted Zone Generator!" a voice rang out, and a machine flew into view.

The machine was rather humanoid. It had a large frame with long arms, and what could only be described as satellite dish hands. The bottom also comprised of another dish, this one emitting rings that were the cause of its flight. Inside the cockpit, was the pilot.

"Tatanga!" Rhody exclaimed.

"Once this Generator builds up enough power, I'll hold the entire Birabuto Kingdom within my grasp! And soon after that, all of Sarasaland!"

"I would've given the King a chance to surrender, but _**someone**_ ," Azalea smiled widely and waved at the alien, "had to be the most frustrating hostage to ever exist! Now, I think I'll make an example of you before I plunge this kingdom into a world of Corruption!"

"Like we'd let you do that!" both Riders and both Princesses said in unison, glaring at him.

"Time to turn up the heat!"

 **~FIRE ON!~**

Starrior assumed Fire States, and launched both of his hands forward, sending two fireballs right at Tatanga's Mecha! The Machine dodged, and fired several cannonballs at the group!

All four of them scattered, Starrior ran to the side of the mech and launched himself, turning into a high speed fireball!

Model X rolled to the side, trying to shoot down the cannonballs before they could get far from their launchers.

Meanwhile, Azalea batted the cannonballs back with her golf club!

Tatanga piloted the mech to dodge the fireball that was Starrior, then fired some circles that shrank and expanded from the satellite dishes at Model X.

"Woah!" Model X yelped, dashing away from the circles.

Tatanga didn't catch the cannonballs being shot back at him like freakin' golf balls, though.

"AGAIN WITH THE CLUB?!"

"HAH!" Princess Amethyst suddenly appeared, swinging from a chain as she swung her blade at the back of the machine!

The Blazing Rider stopped in the air and began to drop down. He swung his legs in an attempt to launch the flames on his feet at the alien.

Unfortunately, he ended up missing and hit a light fixture.

Which fell on Model X. "GAH!"

"SORRY!"

Amethyst kept swinging from the chain, trying to slash the machine again, only to keep missing thanks to Tatanga now being aware of her. He launched several cannonballs her way, and her eyes widened!

She sliced the first, dodged the next, and was able to slash the third one!

But the fourth sailed right above her, hitting what the chain was attached to!.

"AGH! IT'S A CHAIN REACTION!" she said out of some irony, before falling to the floor.

"Did she really need to say tha-ZZT! BZZT! ZZZZZZZZZZZTTT!" the quip in the Star Rider's mouth died as he was hit with the electrical pulse the satellites shot out!

Meanwhile, Model X had pried himself out of the rubble. "Hey!" he yelled, firing a Level 1 Charge Shot to cut that crap out.

The attack hit… and now Tatanga's attention was drawn onto Chris.

"Uh oh," he gulped.

The machine fired a volley of cannonballs right at X's Chosen! As they approached, Azalea appeared and began to tee them back at Tatanga, but there were too many! A stray ball ended up impacting the floor and exploding, sending the two flying and Model X right into a wall!

"GAAAAH-ow…" he groaned in pain.

The was about to fire several pulses at the Rider, only for the machine to flinch forward!

Amethyst and Starrior were trying to lay a beating onto the mech's back!

"You'd think!" *SLAM!* "Something like this'd!" *SLAM!* "Have!" *SLAM!* "Weakspots! *SLAM!* *SLAM!* *SLAM!*

"Weren't you...the one complaining...about villains not being challenging?!" Amethyst questioned, trying to jab her sword to dent the metal.

"Now!' *SLAM!* "Is not the time for-Uh oh."

 ***SLAM!***

The machine slammed its back against a wall, then fired several waves of electrical pulses at Model X!

"Oh crap…" He tried to move, he really did, but…

"GAAAAH!" he yelled in pain, getting knocked back into the wall again.

" _Chris!"_ X yelled.

Model X didn't know how much more of this he could take…

Tatanga's Mech moved forward, Starrior and Amethyst falling to the floor and clutching themselves in pain. Then the machine turned to them.

"Hmph! You were fools to think you could stop me!" Tatanga chortled, "I may have played second banana before, but not now! This time!" He pointed the satellites toward the downed heroes, " _I_ will rule!"

" _NOT HAPPENING!"_ a voice familiar to X, Chris, and Amy rang out...and was only heard by the trio themselves.

Suddenly, the ceiling exploded, as a red blur smashed into Tatanga's large mech, sending him stumbling backwards from the sheer force.

"W-Who dares?!" he yelled, picking himself up.

The red blur then proceeded to fly over to Model X, revealing itself to be…

" _Hmph, even now I still need to save you in the end, huh, X?"_

" _...Zero!"_ X said in relief.

" _Heh...brings back memories…"_ Zero chuckled lightly to himself.

As Amethyst picked herself back up, she blinked as she realized that Zero had appeared...but as Model Z.

' _How can I hear Zero when he's a Biometal now? ...Unless-!'_ Her eyes widened as she realized what that meant.

"Ghh…"

"Rhody!" The Princess moved to her friend, "Don't worry, we still have some Mushrooms! Now, how do I…" She remembered seeing him deactivate the transformation… pull out the switches!

Starrior's form disappeared and revealed Rhody. Despite all the pain he was in, he was smirking.

"Heh… sure is some nice backup we got, huh?" He turned his head to the floating hunk of metal.

" _I see that you've already discovered the Generator,"_ Zero said, looking at the device " _Thankfully I came just in time."_

"Oath!" A healed but still fatigued Rhody got up, and stared right at his best friend.

"I think you know what to do!" He held up his two Ability Switches. "Go beyond a normal Henshin!"

"U-Ugh...r-right," Model X agreed as he got to his feet. "Zero...I don't think we can stand up to this guy by ourselves. Please...will you lend me your power?"

" _Hm...you're X's Chosen...meaning he believes in you,"_ Zero said critically, eyeing him. " _...My power exists to protect those that X believes in...alright. I'd give you a hand, but I'm kind of lacking those at the moment."_

" _...Note to self, punch Cut Man next time I see him,"_ X grumbled to himself.

"Wha-?" Chris shook his head. "Never mind...right, let's do this then." He plucked up his courage, and grabbed Zero's form out of the air.

" _Chris, the device on the right arm. Place Zero in there!"_ X urged his Chosen.

Model X nodded at him, then nodded over at Rhody.

Rhody nodded back, and slammed the Ability Switches down into the Starrior Driver, flicking the them active and starting the countdown!

 **~3!~**

 **~SWORD ON!~**

Kamen Rider Model X held Biometal Model Z forward with his left hand, his grip tight!

 **~2!~**

 **~FIRE ON!~**

"Double…" Pulling his right arm inward, he attached the Biometal to the slot!

 **~1!~**

"Henshin!"/"Megamerge!"

" _Biolink established! M.E.G.A. System online!"_

A cylinder of energy surrounded Rhody, flames and the sound of blades clashing ringing out as Model X's own body was engulfed in light!

As the light pulled back from Model X, his entire form had changed. Any players of the Mega Man ZX games would immediately recognize it as Mega Man Model ZX, but with a few changes. For one thing, the jacket-like armor that seemed to be a staple of Zero and ZX-era designs actually _looked_ like armor, instead of just a stylish jacket. Secondly, the helmet was enclosed, featuring a white mouthplate and black eyepieces.

Chris had become Kamen Rider Model ZX!

A massive sword cleaved through the light of Starrior's transformation, revealing his new form.

It was a fusion of Sword and Fire States, instead of the red hot flames that adorned his head, it was instead a red version of Sword States' hat, making it reminiscent of the Goron Tunic from Ocarina of Time. The massive flaming sword he held in one hand could rival that of Cloud Strife's Buster Sword in size.

Starrior had gone into his Flame Buster States!

"You…" Tatanga was livid, "How _dare_ you ignore me to go and change costumes!"

"So this is what happens when I use two switches," Starrior ignored his foe as he looked at his unlit hand, "Shoulda done this much sooner!"

Meanwhile, something was flashing across Model ZX's vision.

 _ **-Data log update-**_

 _ **-Learning System at partial functionality-**_

 _ **-Only operable during Double Megamerge protocols-**_

" _Alright, good news. You've restored some of my systems with this."_

 _ **-ERROR: corrupt-**_

 _ **-Purging corrupted data-**_

 _ **-...-**_

 _ **-Data purged-**_

" _...Bad news, you can't use any of my techniques other than the sheer basics,"_ Zero stated.

"...Well...I suppose this'll have to do for now. I can't really complain," Chris nodded, clutching the ZX Buster in his hands. With a motion almost as instinctive as it was deliberate, he switched its mode by flipping the barrel of the ZX Buster in line with the grip, the teal plasma blade of the ZX Saber coming to life.

"So what if you got some new toys?!" Tatanga locked onto ZX and fired his cannonballs, "I'll still take you down!"

"Woah!" ZX yelped, dashing under the cannonballs as fast as he could. "Oh yeah?! How do ya like this then!" he declared, his foot thrusters igniting as he leaped, the ZX Saber lancing out to stab right into the armor of the mech.

"What?! No, no! This metal should be able to withstand anything!" Tatanga yelped as the blade scored deep into the metal, Model ZX acquiescing to gravity as he fell downward, cutting open a large gash.

"Hey, Tatanga! You left something here!" And then the machine got hit with several cannonballs, courtesy of Azalea.

That distracted him long enough for Starrior to slice off one of the mech's arms.

"GAAH! My electrical pulse emitters!"

"Rhody, what the heck? You missed one."

"Huh?"

Amethyst flew quickly, her necklace powering her up to the point where she sliced off the other arm.

"See? You missed one," she said, a smirk crossing her face.

"No, no! This isn't supposed to be happening!" Tatanga sounded hysterical, "I won't let you get away with this!" Suddenly, the Generator started to come to life, red pixels starting to float above it.

"Uh oh, time to finish this up, don't ya think?" Starrior looked at his friends as he pulled on the lever on his Driver.

 **~SWORD! FIRE!~**

 _ **LIMIT BREAK!**_

"Right. Sounds like a plan," Model ZX nodded in determination, this time twisting Zero around on his gauntlet.

 **M.E.G.A. SYSTEM: OVERDRIVE INVOKE!**

This time, red energy coursed around him...seeming to be going towards the blade of the ZX Saber.

The Flame Swordsman span multiple times, " **Buster…"** the fire on his blade growing hotter and hotter! " **Launch!"** He let go, and the sword went flying! Spinning like a buzzsaw, the blade hit, Tatanga's machine, sending it careening into the Corruption Generator!

Princess Amethyst flew to grab the blade, the inferno changing from red to purple! She went in and threw the blade into both the machine, the force making it go through and stop at the Generator!

"Chris, finish it!"

"Right!" Model ZX proceeded to twist Zero back around to proper orientation.

 **ROCK ON!**

As the red aura rose in intensity around Model ZX, a burst of info flashed into his head. The sole technique of Zero's that hadn't been purged from memory.

...But now Chris had another problem.

' _Crap! Which name do I use?! Japanese or English?!'_

" _Is it really that important, Chris?_

" _It is actually kinda important, X. You wouldn't know, since you never bother shouting attacks like that. But in this case, the ZX Saber_ needs _the vocal component. Use whichever comes to mind first, Chris."_

"Right...here goes!" Model ZX yelled, the length of the ZX Saber increasing tremendously as he brought it up.

" **Phantasm...ZERO!"** he roared, swinging it down as he sent two large green energy waves flying at both mech and generator!

Tatanga tried to fire all of his remaining cannonballs at the Rider…

They were all easily sliced through, as was the machine and Generator.

"...Crud."

* * *

 ***BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!***

An explosion erupted from the sand of the Birabuto Kingdom, turning said sand into glass and creating a huge hole that was being filled by said glass.

If one looked closely, they could see a figure being flung right out of it, being sent upward to the stars.

* * *

The four could see the sky; it was getting close to night as it was a mix of orange and purple.

Model ZX stared up at the massive hole. "Did... _we_ do that?" he said faintly.

"Honestly I think it was a mix between the mech and Generator explosions…" Starrior stated, his voice carrying an exhausted tone.'

"It still looks really impressive, though," Amethyst admitted.

Just then, something flashed across Model ZX's vision again.

 _ **-Data log update-**_

 _ **-Update: enemy mechanism blueprints analyzed-**_

 _ **-Extracting 'Electrical Pulse Generator' data-**_

 _ **-Recovering Learning System data-**_

 _ **-...-**_

 _ **-Learning System: Technique 'Denjin' recovered-**_

"...Um...that was a thing," he said woozily, plopping to the ground.

"You think… Refreshing Herbs bring back stamina?" Amy asked as she tried to pick up Rhody.

He'd fallen on his face, again.

"Never really tried," Azalea stated as she went to pick up Chris, not encumbered by his weight, "Come on! There's still daylight, somewhat, we gotta make it back! I mean, how bad would it be to see that my rescuers had to be carried by the damsel?"

"You're… getting a kick out of this, aren't you?" Starrior turned his head to Sarasaland's Second Princess.

Azalea just grinned, marching toward the exit, Model ZX on her back.

" _*Sigh*_ Come on, Rhody." Amethyst pulled.

"I dun wanna."

"Come on."

"Noh."

"Dammit, Rhody, get up!"

"Blurrrrrrrrrghh."

* * *

The two Princesses could see the lights of the town.

"Perfect! And just before it got dark, too! Desert nights are _frigid_ , let me tell you."

"You know, Amy, I think I can move on my own, now."

"Oh no way," she grumbled, "I'm not letting you complain about your feet hurting or whatever you'd splurge out of your mouth."

"Fair enough but-GAow! I'm gonna start complaining about you dragging my head against rocks!"

"Good."

"..." Chris had fallen asleep from exhaustion again, since...well, Double Megamerge and all. Plus the Overdrive Invoke System being used again.

As for X and Zero…

"' _Starrior', huh? Can't say I've ever heard of that system before,"_ Zero commented.

" _Me neither. Meta Knight recognized it, but you know how he is. He's not gonna say a word about how or why,"_ X sighed.

" _Hm...I think it might be best if we call back your kids."_

" _Zero…"_

" _What? They're based on your DNA Data, and you even said they had parts of your_ soul. _They're your kids, X."_

" _That's not what I meant. I haven't heard from them in a while...about as long as I hadn't heard from_ you _before…"_

" _...That's bad,"_ Zero admitted. " _What about the kid?"_

" _I've heard from him, actually. He's busy checking something out."_

" _We better tell him to be careful, then. Don't want him befalling the same fate…"_

"...Hey, Rhody?"

"Ow. Hm?" Starrior tilted his head to face Amethyst.

"You don't… hear things coming from Zero, do you?"

' _What am I fighting fooooooooooooorrrrr-'_ "No, I-uh, don't hear anything. Wait, do you?"

"Yeah…"

"So, that means… well, Chris is the one who's using the Bio Adaptor, so I don't see you ever becoming Model Z-GAH, that rock hit me right in the spine!"

"Still, I should probably… talk to him later." ' _Come on, Amy, it's not a big deal, right? It's just Zero… uhhhhh...'_ She'd gotten used to talking to X with how casual he could be, but uh, Zero was kind of a different beast altogether.

"Princess!"

"WAH!" Azalea jumped in surprise as the Toad Guard greeted her, accidently dropping X's Chosen. The four had made it back to the edge of town.

"You're safe! Those guys really _were_ able to rescue you!"

"Huh?" Chris's eyes fluttered open for a sec from the drop...before he fell back to sleep.

"Thank goodness," another guard spoke. "Your sister recently came back from the Mushroom Kingdom, now she won't try to hunt Tatanga down herself!"

"Yeah, Big Sis still has duties to attend to. Can't have her get worried about 'lil ol' me, now can she? Hey, you think you could carry these guys back to the castle?"

"They saved ya, Princess. It's the least we can do!" The Toads holstered Chris up and carried him off to the Castle, all the while escorting two Princesses as well.

"...Um. Aren't you forgetting something?" Starrior asked as they all left him behind. "...Guys?"

* * *

"Wow! You guys really did a lot, didn't ya?" Princess Daisy decided, tapping a finger on her cheek. "You really sent Tatanga flying like that?"

"Sure did, Sis!" Azalea boasted.

"HA! I woulda _paid_ to see that!" The grin she sported on her face really did confirm that the two were related. "I really gotta thank you three for helping her out, even if she could escape from that clown on her own. Though… are you all okay?"

The three, particularly Chris and Rhody, looked almost dead to the world.

"Yeah, we're fine. Just a bit tired right now," Amy, the one who was most awake, replied.

"You shoulda seen 'em, Sis! Tatanga was throwin' 'round cannonballs and electric stuff, then Rhody over there pulled out a giant sword that was on fire! Not to mention the other guy, Chris, who got a gun that turns into a sword!"

"You hear that, Oath, yur a _real_ Rider nowwwwwwwwwwww…." Rhody tried to pat his friend's shoulder, but missed, almost about to fall on his face.

Which was at least better than Chris, who was asleep on his feet...again.

"Not to mention Amethyst here, she's a Princess too, by the by, she went and grabbed Rhody's sword and threw it right at that mecha-thing Tatanga piloted!"

"Well, it seems you all had quite the day." The King smiled, though looked at the two half conscious teens in slight worry. "How about you two stay for the night and rest up? It's the least we can do."

"Zzzz-Yes please." Chris immediately woke up at those words.

"A bath would be nice 'bout now." Amy smiled.

And Rhody just fell on his face... again.

* * *

A while later, after obtaining their rooms for the night, the two boys had immediately fallen asleep.

Amy, however, was still awake because she wasn't quite as exhausted. And because a certain something was still bugging her.

"Grr...come on, Amy!" she said to herself in frustration. "You don't need to turn into a Mega Man! You're Princess Amethyst! Savior of Gem World! You have _magic_! You don't need that!"

' _...But it'd be so cool...'_ Amy silently sighed Unfortunately, like the others, she had no cybernetics. If she tried to use Zero for a Megamerge, she'd need to use Chris's belt.

"And that's even if Zero _lets_ me in the first place…" she said, collapsing onto the bed.

" _That depends on what you want to do, honestly."_

"WAH!" Amy shot up into a sitting position, startled.

Floating in front of her...was Zero.

"O-Oh...Zero! H-How long have you been there?" she asked nervously.

" _Long enough. So...you're a Biomatch for me, huh?"_

"U-Uh, yeah, I guess. I mean...we're talking right now, so…" Amy was super nervous. This was _Zero_ she was talking to, after all.

" _It's been a while since I've seen a Biomatch for myself. Of course, since you don't have any cybernetics, you wouldn't be able to Megamerge with me without using that belt that X cooked up."_

"Yeah...I, uh...kinda wish I could, you know? It's just... _so cool…"_

" _If that's the only reason you want to use my power, then forget it. Something being cool shouldn't be a reason to want to do something,"_ Zero said critically.

Amy blushed red in embarrassment. "Nonono! I mean...it is cool, but...I just want to know what it's like. I mean...what if Chris can't fight and my magic's not working? Might as well what I can do in case of emergencies, right?" she suggested.

" _Hm...I suppose_ that _would be a good reason to want to try it,"_ Zero allowed. " _I don't believe X would mind terribly much if we were to borrow the Bio Adapter at the moment."_

As it turned out, he didn't. So a little while later, Amy stood in her room, wearing the Bio Adapter with Zero floating in front of her.

Amy took a deep breath. "Okay...okay...I can do this…" She plucked up her courage and grabbed Zero out of the air.

" _Remember, this is only a test. Don't get too used to it. This really is for emergencies only. That belt isn't made easily."_

"Right, right…" She took another deep breath. "Alright...and, Megamerge!" she declared, snapping Zero into place on the Bio Adapter.

In a flash of light, things changed for her as armor formed up!

As should come to no surprise, it heavily resembled Kamen Rider Model ZX, although it had more in common with Mega Man Model Z, although obviously feminine in shape. The helmet more resembled Model ZX, although instead of solid eyepieces it had Model Z's black visor instead, as well as Zero's blue and triangular forehead gem instead of the green arrow-shaped gem of the Double Megamerges. The back of the helmet had an opening to let Amy's now-much-longer hair escape from the back. The Buster Shot rested on her back, and her hip holster held the un-ignited Z-Saber.

Amy had, for a short while, become **Kamen Rider Model Z**!

"Ohmygod, ohmygod, OHMYGOD!" she squeed slightly, looking at herself. This felt incredible! Almost as good as her magic felt when it was going full blast!

" _Hm...Buster Shot and Z-Saber...my systems are still damaged, though, so you're limited in comparison to what a Biomatch would normally have,"_ Zero commented.

"Right," Amy nodded. She flexed her fingers a little, pulling out the Buster Shot to practice aiming with it a little, then pulled out the Z-Saber, igniting it in a spark of green plasma.

"Wow…" she whispered, looking at it in awe.

" _Alright, Princess, you've seen what you can do. We can't keep this forever."_

Model Z sighed. "Yeah...I know," she whispered, dejected. It really was super cool! With some reluctance, she shut off the Z-Saber, before pulling Zero off of the Bio Adapter.

She stumbled slightly as the energy high crashed, though. "W-Woah...now I know why Chris keeps falling unconscious…" she realized.

* * *

 _The Next Morning…_

"Okay," Rhody stretched out, sitting on the bed that was provided to him, "now'd be a good time to go over everything that's happened, considering that yesterday, we blew up a Generator that could apparently make Corrupted Zones."

" _It's what I had been investigating before I got Corrupted myself,"_ Zero mentioned. " _We assumed that Corrupted Zones only formed when someone or thing with a large quantity of power, such as myself, were infected by the Glitches."_

" _That doesn't seem to be the case, though. Apparently, there's an actual_ Generator _for making them...which may explain Dark Meta Knight,"_ X theorized. " _He didn't seem to be infected, so perhaps he had set up a generator on the Halberd. Perhaps it was in the Heavy Lobster unit."_

"Tatanga seemed to think that he'd be able to rule Sarasaland when the Generator actually went active…" Amy thought out loud.

"Though now I'm wondering how exactly he _made_ the generator." Rhody folded his arms, his eyes squinting at the thought. "That type of thing doesn't strike me as something any schmuck could create."

"Tatanga's always been a bit of a small fry. He worked for _Wario_ , after all. He must have been working for someone else this time." Chris was pretty sure about that, at least.

But there was something else he wanted to address. "So...Amy is a Biomatch for Zero?" he questioned, tilting his head.

With that, the savior of Gemworld hopped up a bit in surprise at him knowing. "So, uh, X told ya, huh?"

" _It's not exactly something that should be kept hidden,"_ Zero replied.

"I think it's pretty cool that you are, Amy," Chris assured her. "I, uh...I'd give you the Bio Adapter myself, but, uh…X kinda talked me out of it."

" _Chris, I told you, you're perfectly fine. You just need some more confidence,"_ X assured him. Since Zero was aware of Amy being a Biomatch for him now, he could let her hear other Biometals speak by using himself as a go-between, so she could hear X at all times now.

Leaving Rhody as the only one who couldn't.

"You know, it's not exactly fun being the only one not being able to hear the conversation you two are having."

Chris shrugged helplessly, an awkward look on his face. There wasn't much he could do about it.

"Guh. Alright. In summary, Dark Meta Knight and Tatanga were in league with someone else. And Corrupted Zones are generated through, well, generators." Rhody looked to Zero. "Though considering the circumstances with you earlier, I guess a person that's powerful enough and then corrupted can also produce their own Corrupted Zone. Though that's just me guessing right now. That everything?"

"Looks like it...of course the question now is _who_ is doing it…" Chris muttered.

" _Unfortunately, as it stands, we're not in any shape to be dealing with whoever it is,"_ Zero determined. " _X and I are still damaged, Rhody is still new to that Starrior stuff, and Princess Amethyst hasn't truly tapped into her full power yet."_

"I...haven't?" Amy blinked in surprise.

" _No. It's best that we work to increase our strength before dealing with whoever it is, loath as I am to just sit here,"_ Zero admitted.

" _In short, we have to track down those four and bring them back. They've gone missing, so they may be in similar straights to how Zero was,"_ X warned us.

"Okay, Chris? Amy? Summary from those two?"

"Uh, we need to find the Guardians if we want to even consider finding the mastermind behind all this," Amy relayed.

"Oh, I get ya. Get more power, then we head to the final boss…" Rhody looked to the floor, lips pursed in what he was thinking. "We should… probably work on at least getting some form of training in whenever we have the chance to come back to the Nexus."

" _That's not a bad idea,"_ X agreed with the user of the Starrior System. " _Chris can fine tune his skills while Megamerged."_

" _Even Reploids need to undergo training before they're fit for combat,"_ Zero reminisced. " _Though I don't know why you haven't put the Rookies through the wringer, X."_

" _Zero, you know I was never a combat instructor."_

" _Excuses."_

' _...Uh oh…'_ Chris gulped slightly. This wasn't going where he thought it was, right?

" _Alright. You three are all rested up. Starting tomorrow, we're gonna put you through some exercises to whip you all into shape. I still know all the drills I ran back at Maverick Hunter HQ, so you don't have to worry about me being rusty."_

"...I have a feeling there's a reason you two look so nervous right now…" Rhody muttered as he looked at the faces of his friends, their brows rapidly increasing in sweat.

* * *

"I must thank you again for your services," the King of Sarasaland said as he, Daisy, Azalea, and some of the guards saw them off.

"You sure that you can't stay a little more? I wanted to see how you guys were at golf," Azalea pouted in disappointment.

"Trust me, I'm not very good," Rhody chuckled.

"Can't say I've ever touched it," Amy admitted.

"I've only ever played mini-golf. You'd cream us, Princess," Chris said matter-of-factly.

"Aw…"

"Well, you're always welcome to come back'n try, either way," Daisy said as she patted her sister's back.

"Right. Well… see ya." Not really knowing how else to say goodbye, Rhody simply waved and began to head off.

"We'll, uh...definitely keep that in mind," Chris nodded, slightly red in the face. He didn't usually like thinking about that kinda stuff, but, uh...meeting someone like Daisy in person was a bit of a thing. He just hadn't really noticed yesterday due to being dead on his feet.

"We'll make sure to come visit again!" Amy said with much excitement. She meant it, too. How many times can you say you got to meet a Mario Princess? Never! And she met Daisy!

As the trio headed off back to the Nexus, Zero spoke up.

" _Remember. Tomorrow, you guys are going through the works. I'm not taking no for an answer."_

...A cold shiver passed down their spines. Even Rhody, who had no idea what he said.

Tomorrow was going to suck…

 _ **Episode 05 - Fin**_

* * *

 _ **OathToOblivion:**_ **You know, you said that and all...but all things considered, this might have been out earlier than today. You know, if a certain someone hadn't been busy with Final Fantasy XV…**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Not my fault the game's addicting.**

 _ **OathToOblivion:**_ **Eh. Well, anyway, our poor protags are about to be put through boot camp by Zero. Glad I'm not actually doing it!**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: No kidding. They're gonna be put through the wringer, as he said, but what of the Guardians? Well, just stick around, they'll show up soon.**

 _ **OathToOblivion:**_ **Yeah! I do wonder** _ **where**_ **they went though…**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: We'll have to find out: Next Time! See ya, folks!**


	6. Episode 6

_**OathToOblivion:**_ **You know, I can't believe it's taken** _ **this**_ **long just to get effective feedback...even if said feedback is making me feel a** _ **tiny**_ **bit discouraged.**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Well, all we can do now is improve ourselves from the feedback we've gotten. Even if it makes us a bit hesitant, it'll still help us in the long run.**

 _ **OathToOblivion:**_ **I know, it's just...second guessing is kinda hard to stop doing, you know? Anyway,** _ **hopefully**_ **you guys will like this chapter...all...** _ **9**_ **of you...**

* * *

"Oh man…" Rhody muttered the same two words over and over as he and the others made their way through the Nexus, extremely nervous about what lied ahead for them today.

"...Just so you know, I blame you for everything, Aeon/Rhody," Chris and Amy said in unison. They were _not_ looking forward to this one bit.

"I didn't know that Zero would potentially go full on Drill Instructor on us! I didn't even know he _did_ this kind of stuff back when he had a body!"

"...Yeah, honestly, he never seemed the type...then again, I've been wrong about this kinda stuff before," Chris noted.

"Well, I guess that he'd be training new recruits to the Maverick Hunters, but I never took him for the teaching type." Amy thought back to how he generally acted in the Zero Series. "He never struck me as someone with the patience for it."

"Well, we might as well give it our full effort. Besides, his drills were for Reploids. I'm sure that he'll tone them down for our squishy human bodies."

* * *

 _"Now I know you're not Reploids, so you may think that I'll tone down the exercises so you'll live through them,"_ Zero said as he floated in front of the trio, who were all now dressed in workout gear.

 _"You'd be wrong. Transformations up. Now."_

' _...I can feel their glares burning through the sides of my head…'_ Rhody thought as he slowly put on the Starrior Driver.

* * *

 _"Come on, let's go. I've never seen such outta shape punks in my life. Hurry up and pull yourself up. What do you think this is, a night at the theater? I wanna see you boys hussle. Come on, move it."_

"Gah, oh my god, I feel like I'm dying!" Starrior gasped as he tried to go through the obstacle course Zero had... _somehow_ constructed.

The weird part was he wasn't even yelling the instructs and insults at them, he was just telling it to them in a firm voice!

" _...Zero, how did you even make this obstacle course in the first place? Our cyber elf projections can't actually hold much."_

" _Hard work and determination, X. All anyone needs, really. Now get Chris to pick up the pace!"_

"I'm a bit more athletic… that I was before," Amethyst wheezed as she climbed up the rockwall, "but I'm not that fit."

"I...have never...been good...at swimming…" Model X panted out. Where had Zero even gotten enough salt to make the pool buoyant enough so he couldn't sink due to the heavy armor?!

" _Alright, come on, let's hustle, I wanna see you lot do 100 more laps 'round the course, keep moving 'till your feet give out!"_

Unfortunately, that was rather difficult with their current enhanced forms...

* * *

 _"Alright, take five."_

The sound of thumping was heard as soon as the words exited Zero's vocal units.

 _"Zero, I think you killed them."_

 _"I checked their pulses. They're fine."_

The prone bodies of the now detransformed teens, lying on top of each other in an unmoving heap, said otherwise.

 _"Mentally, Zero. You killed them mentally. I can't hear anything out of Chris's head."_

" _Really?"_

' _-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-'_

" _...Yes, I'm pretty sure."_

" _Huh. Well, not to worry. I made sure to prepare for this."_

" _Wait...what?"_

And then a large amount of ice water was dunked onto the pile of bodies.

A practically comical amount.

"*GAAASP* MY LUNGS ARE ON FIRE!" Rhody yelled from the bottom of the pile

"Arms… legs… like… noodles…" Amy wasn't as fortunate as her friend, having her face stuck on the ground, unmoving.

...Chris just looked like he'd passed out. "Ugh…" No, wait! There was life!

" _...Zero, I have many questions."_ Biometals couldn't really make expressions, but you could still get the sense of X feeling rather...concerned about how Zero had pulled this off.

" _Really? I have a question of my own as it happens. Any luck figuring out where those four went?"_

" _Nothing yet. ...Although I haven't checked on my sources lately. I'll go do that real quick."_ X proceeded to float off.

"Amy… Amy, you still alive?" Rhody poked the girl that was currently lying prone on him. She was really heavy, and Oath being on top of all of them wasn't helping matters.

"Blegh…" Amy groaned in exhaustion. She didn't look like she was gonna move any time soon.

"Oath… Oath, you gotta help her off me."

"Uuuuuggghhh." His other friend didn't look to be in that condition, either.

"Zero… Zero, you gotta get me outta here."

" _I don't have any hands. How do you expect me to pull you out?"_ And it's not like he would have anyway.

"Zero… Zero, come on."

" _Oh yeah, you can't hear me."_ With everyone else in the group able to hear him, it had slipped his mind that Rhody couldn't.

"Use… use your Psychic Reploid Powers."

" _What?"_

"Just… just manipulate cyberspace… Interact with that world and effect this one."

" _...I'm not the one who goofs around with Cyberspace. That's_ Omega _who does that… or my_ other _counterpart… and even then, it's not the same cyberspace..."_

Speaking of, what _was_ his Navi counterpart up to at the moment? It had been some time since they had met. Unfortunately, he wasn't exactly gonna find out now, as X interrupted his thoughts.

" _Zero! I finally got a lead on where Harpuia is!"_ X declared, floating back over. " _He's apparently in Sonic's World at the moment."_

" _Good. Alright, you three, get yourselves ready. We're heading over there on the double,"_ Zero declared to the group of humans, who...were still not exactly in the best of shapes.

"Oh god…the nausea's kicking in…" Rhody started to sound delirious.

"My body… is trying to diiiiie…" the blonde of the group muttered.

And Chris had full on passed out.

" _...Okay, I think that first we should find a way to get them back to 100 percent."_

" _Wusses."_

" _Zero, honestly!"_

* * *

 _ **VG Heroes: Defenders of the Game World**_

 _ **Episode 06 - Harpies of the Sky Sanctuary**_

Thankfully, thanks to the leftover supplies from Sarasaland, it didn't take long to get the trio up to feeling well enough to travel.

...Not that they didn't feel sore anyway. And doing so had used up the last of the supplies as well.

Anyway, they stepped through the portal...only to arrive 20 feet in the air.

"W-Woah!"

"Eek!"

"Yikes!"

Thankfully, between their assorted powers, they were able to land on the ground with nary a scratch.

" _Sorry about that. It's hard to aim the teleporter for this place in particular,"_ X apologized.

"Why, where are we anyway?" his Chosen questioned, gazing around at where they'd found themselves in.

Namely, a rich, luscious jungle, filled with plant life and animals alike. Vines, trees, waterfalls, craggy rocks. This was jungle territory by far.

"Jungles all look alike to me," Starrior admitted, trying to recognize the place.

"...Uh, guys? I know where we are," Amethyst said uneasily, looking through some of the shrubbery behind them..

Chris blinked behind his helmet, going to see what she was seeing. "Really, where-OH GEEZ!" Model X flinched back from what he saw.

Namely, the bright blue open sky _barely 20 feet away from them._ There didn't seem to be ground visible below it either.

"...Okay, I just took a glance and I really don't want to go near that edge." Starrior didn't care if there was sand separating them from terminal velocity, the Star Rider didn't want to risk it!

"So...I guess we're on Angel Island then," Amethyst crossed her arms in thought. Sonic's World, jungle island in the sky; it all seemed to fit to her.

"Uwaah?!" Starrior turned to the strawberry blonde in surprise.

"...If we are, I hope Knuckles doesn't get upset." Model X shuddered slightly as he thought of what the Echidna Guardian would say.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm already upset."

Everyone turned to the new voice, and… one could see the stars in Starrior's eyes, despite his helmet obscuring them.

Standing there was Knuckles the Echidna himself, his arms crossed over his chest and tapping his foot. "About time you guys showed up. Loath as I am to act like that blue buffoon, hurry up. We don't got all day," he told them, swiveling around and walking off.

"Uwaah!" Rhody tugged at Model X's arm, pointing to the sole resident of the island.

"Y-Yeah, I see him, Aeon! Get off my arm!" ' _What is even going on with him?!'_

" _Strange...I wasn't aware Knuckles had advance notice of us coming here…"_ X pondered.

" _Hm...you guys better stay careful. We don't know what we're getting into here,"_ Zero warned.

"UUUUWUU!" Okay, now Starrior was looking really excited, even with his helmet on.

"Rhody, English, geez!" Amethyst exclaimed, throwing her hands up.

"AAA!"

" _I think he's stuck,"_ X realized.

" _Should we hit him or something?"_ Zero suggested. Otherwise, this was gonna get annoying real fast.

"Thanks for volunteering, Zero!"

" _Wait, what-?!"_

 ***CLONK***

Model X grabbed Zero and clonked Starrior over the head with him.

* * *

"Gah! Why did you have to do that?!" Rhody really wished that he could properly rub the back of his head right now.

"You were completely stuck in...something or another. Although, I don't know why Chris used _Zero_ for that…" Amethyst looked askance at where the Biometal was now trying to chase down X's Chosen, even as the group was following after Knuckles through Angel Island Zone.

Which was easier said than done. Knuckles may not be as fast as Sonic, but he was still faster than any of them.

"I couldn't help it, okay!" Starrior said as he rushed through the jungle, trying to keep Knuckles in his vision. "It's Knuckles. Knuckles! Sonic Adventure's the first game that I have clear memories about. And… I'm just, excited, y'know?"

"...Yeah, I guess I can see that, now," Amethyst admitted. Someone's first game...well, it was always fond memories. Whether it was playing it or _making_ it, those memories were ones that stuck around. The game itself didn't really matter.

Meanwhile, Starrior decided to check on a certain something. "Oath, how're you holding up back there?"

"Someone get Zero off me!" Model X yelled, trying to climb up a tree to get away from Zero. ...Completely forgetting that Zero, as a Biometal, _could float._ And that Chris himself stunk at climbing trees.

" _Chris, come here and explain why you did that. NOW."_

"Eh, he'll be fine," Starrior decided.

The trip was relatively easy considering the lack of Eggman Robots or assorted Badniks of any flavor. They all would have been cleared out years ago, after all.

However, right as they were nearing the entrance to Hydrocity Zone, the whole area started going...staticy.

Model X immediately stopped. "Huh?" he blinked in surprise, looking around in confusion.

"Oh great, what is it this time?" Amethyst got out her weaponry as soon as she also stopped. She knew how things like this tended to go, so there was a pretty good chance there'd be a fight on their hands..

Knuckles immediately raised his guard. "Great. Here we go again," he grumbled, getting his fists ready.

Just then, a wave of red static passed over the area...and suddenly a large horde of Badniks had appeared out of thin air!

RhinoBots, Catakiller Jr.'s, Monkey Dudes...the only Angel Island Zone Badnik not present was Bloominator! ...For obvious reasons of not being mobile.

"Harpuia's glitches are doing this?" Rhody asked, mostly to himself as he readied the Sword and Fire Switches.

Knuckles immediately glared at him as soon as he saw the Fire Switch. "It's not him directly, and please _don't_ turn that fire one on. The Zone still hasn't recovered from Eggman setting it on fire back in the day."

Starrior immediately stopped reaching for the Fire Switch at that memory. "Wait, you mean 1994?" the Princess asked.

"In your world's time, yes. I'm not _that_ old!"

" _Knuckles seems to know a lot of what's going on. Chris, you're still not used to my power, so go to Model ZX,"_ Zero ordered. " _You've still got a lot to work on with my_ basic _techniques before I let you touch the ones from the Learning System,"_ he mentioned, before flying into said Rider's hands.

' _...Well, I guess that's fair…'_ "Right! Double Megamerge!" Model X announced, slapping Zero onto the slot. A flash of light later, and Model ZX stood there, igniting the ZX Saber.

 **~SWORD ON!~**

"HAH!" Starrior Sword States rushed in to cleave a RhinoBot in half, Princess Amethyst joining in on the slicing and dicing! Their blades easily slashed right through the metal as they attacked.

Knuckles cracked a smirk, before punching a fist into his open palm. "ORA!" he yelled, dashing in with a flurry of punches towards a group of Monkey Dudes, the fast and ferocious blows causing the metallic monkeys' exoskeletons to buckle.

Model ZX dashed in to attack the Catakiller Jr.'s with slashes from the ZX Saber, the plasma blade searing the flying blue caterpillars to hot pieces!.

As the Badniks were slashed apart, though...no animals were seen escaping from the remains, and the remains themselves faded out.

Just then, some of the Monkey Dudes started throwing robotic coconuts at the entire group.

One clonked Amethyst on the head.

"Ow!" she hissed in pain, holding her shield over her head to block any further throws.

"Gah! You know-ouch. I'm kinda glad-Gh! Kinda glad I wear arm-freakin! Armor!" Starrior finally got out as he was pelted by the metal shells, stepping back from the force of the throws..

"Hey! Cut that out!" Knuckles roared, punching out at the Monkey Dudes with fiery punches, his fists literally abalze, although his control was tight so as to not set the jungle ablaze.

Meanwhile, Model ZX was leaping to individually slice at each Catakiller Jr. "Grr...this is taking too long!" he complained. He didn't dare attack when they were using their electrical barriers, which they _did_ use. Often. Because they could see him leaping to attack their brethren one at a time.

" _Then speed it up a little. You should know this one. It's basic,"_ Zero chided, casually bringing the info up on Chris's HUD..

' _...OH!'_

"And... **Tenshouzan!"** Model ZX declared, leaping up with a rising slash that cut into a good chunk of the flying Badniks.

" _Hm...kinda sloppy, but it was your first time doing it...I'll give it a 7 out of 10,"_ Zero decided.

"Nice job. Reminds me of what _I_ can do!" Starrior charged at some Monkey Dudes and performed a rising slash that launched him into the air, and then performed a downward stab into a Catakiller Jr. that made him drop faster than a rock!

"ORA!" Suddenly, Knuckles erupted from the ground in front, using the Spiral Upper on a Monkey Dude that had been about to tackle Starrior. The monkey-based Badnik went flying out of sight!

"Woah! I just got saved by Knuckles! So. Cool," Starrior gushed with some glee.

Unfortunately, his fanboying got him zapped by a Catakiller Jr.

"Rhody, come on! At least save the gushing for later!" Amethyst scolded as she kicked the thing away.

"So… cool." Smoke was coming off the Swordsman, his gushing not deterred by the attack.

The Princess slashed another Badnik, "We keep whittling them down, but there's still a lot of 'em! We should probably," she dodged a stray coconut, "keep going!"

"We're near Hydrocity Zone anyway!" Knuckles agreed with the strawberry blonde as he smashed a Monkey Dude into the ground. He then quickly revved up into a Spin Dash, bowling over the RhinoBots like a pins at a bowling alley.

Up ahead was the waterfall that led directly down to Hydrocity Zone.

Model ZX covered the remaining Monkey Dudes with a peppering of shots from the ZX Buster that caused them to stagger. "Guys, go! I'll finish these guys off and follow you!" He waved them on, charging up the Buster.

As the red, purple, and green/pink trio arrived at the cliff's edge, something occurred to the pink one. "So, uh, you got a spare Air Necklace?" Starrior asked right before they jumped down. He and Model ZX had armor, but he wasn't sure Amethyst would be able to hold her breath long enough down there.

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm sure there are a few Bubble Shields still down there…" Knuckles reasoned, before jumping in.

"Fair enough," Amethyst responded as she leaped down. Although all the water was giving her flashbacks to the Halberd.

"Getting FF6 flashbacks here," the Sword Wielding Rider muttered to himself as he too jumped.

Meanwhile, Model ZX fired off a Level 2 Charge Shot at the remaining Badniks, blowing them to pieces, before dashing over to the waterfall. He gulped slightly in trepidation, before leaping in himself, clinging to the cliff to slow his fall for however long it was there.

* * *

"I don't remember this waterfall leading to a water slide!" Starrior yelled as he and the others were carried at a high speed through the vast network of ruins that carried water across the island.

Except they haven't exactly started where Sonic had 23 years ago in their own world...

"What? You expected this place to stay the same for this many years?! I have hobbies too, you know!" Knuckles yelled as he exited the slide, running across the water with the momentum until he reached a solid surface.

The others weren't so quick on their feet.

"GAH-OUCH-GUAH!" Starrior skipped across the water like a pebble due to the speed he as going at, landing on his back next to the Echidna. "What I wouldn't give for Wheel, right now…" he groaned out.

Amethyst gasped as she breached the surface, having gone underwater for a bit there from the fall, before swimming back up. "You know…" she panted out as she grabbed the ledge, hoisting herself up. "I used to love swimming...But after today, plus the whole thing on the Halberd…wait, where'd Chris go?" she realized, looking around.

Model ZX, as it turned out, had once again sunk to the bottom of the water due to his armor density.

"I'm getting real sick of this…" he muttered angrily to himself as he sank. Fortunately, he landed right on a red Spring.

Unfortunately, he hadn't noticed that he had. "W-WOAH!" he yelped as he was sent skyrocketing out of the water.

"Welp, we're all accounted for," the Sword Rider stated as he looked up, seeing how much air time Chris could get, "Now to make our way to the next Zone. Marble Garden, right?" he asked Knuckles.

Knuckles shot him a flat look. "No. Eggman destroyed the place trying to get Sonic. I've repaired what I could using some of the stuff from Sky Sanctuary, but...it doesn't actually have a name," he admitted. "I usually just refer to it as Neo Angel Island Zone."

"OOF!" Model ZX let out in pain, landing face first in front of them.

" _Don't worry, you'll live,"_ Zero said with no sympathy.

"Geez. Kinda forgot what can happen between now and back then." the Princess said to herself, thinking about what other changes occurred to Angel Island during and after Sonic 3.

"Anyway, I need to bring you guys to the Master Emerald Shrine there so you can go deal with that nuisance on my Island," Knuckles declared, stepping forward, before diving into the water.

"Well, I guess we should take a dive. In Aq-GAH!" Before he could finish, Amethyst pushed Starrior into the water.

"Ugh…" Model ZX groaned as he picked himself up. Both from the pain, and from the quoting of certain rap songs from a certain game. Shaking his head, he saw a certain something off in the distance. "Oh, Amy. There's, uh...a Bubble Shield over there," he pointed to the Monitor.

"Oh, perfect!" She knew that if you were skilled enough, you could spend little time in the actual underwater portions in Hydrocity, but seeing that she didn't have the speed of a Sonic Hero, she'd just have to play it safe.

Amethyst quickly swam over to where the Bubble Shield was and quickly smashed the monitor with a loud *Pop*, becoming surrounded in a bubble-like sphere.

"...Wait a second..." The Princess poked her sword through it, the bubble not popping and the blade merely phasing through it.

"I have no idea how this works…" she muttered to herself before diving in after Starrior and Knuckles.

" _Well, in times like this it's best to not question it, I find,"_ X advised as Model ZX leaped in after them.

" _Yeah, like how Dr. Light hid all those Capsules all over the place. Some of those_ definitely _could not have been there originally,"_ Zero commented.

The four traversed the ruins, thankfully not coming near any glitches, before they reached the destination Knuckles had set out for. Namely, what would normally be the end of Act 2, if this was actually Sonic 3.

"Hmm… Normally, I'd take a water geyser, then climb up. That'll be trickier with you guys, though," Knuckles muttered, rubbing his chin, looking up at the very large heights to traverse.

"Well, we can always take a ride up there on this," Starrior shrugged as he produced a Warp Star. "It's a tight fit, but four people can ride on this thing."

"Well, this is gonna be a bit weird…" Model ZX commented as he grabbed on. "...Amy, how do you deal with long hair, seriously?" he questioned, looking back at the giant length of hair protruding from the back of his helmet, courtesy of Zero and the Double Megamerge.

A giant length of hair that was also _wet_ , and thus giving him grief.

Knuckles did a double-take. "Wait, your name is _Amy?"_ he questioned of the Princess.

"Yeah. Small world… or Multiverse, really." Amethyst wasn't sure how to respond here. Should she be relieved that Knuckles seemed to just take the fact that her name was Amy in stride instead of comparing her to Amy Rose?

" _And for the record, Chris, be thankful you don't have to wash that hair regularly,"_ Zero commented. You could maybe, just _maybe,_ detect a hint of bitterness in his voice regarding that.

" _Yeah, you should have seen Zero's shampoo bill back at Maverick Hunter HQ,"_ X mentioned in reminiscence. " _How did you cope at the Resistance HQ?"_

" _Well, to be fair, I didn't have my memories for a good chunk of that time. That, and there was a surprising amount of shampoo around there. I guess we have Ciel and Elpizo to thank for that…"_ Which would be the _only_ thing he thanked _Elpizo_ for for the rest of the century if he had anything to say about it.

Chris… didn't really know how to react to all this hair care info, though. He decided to just not worry about it.

"Alright, hang on tight," Starrior announced as the Warp Star began to shake in preparation for take off.

"Can't be as bad as Extreme Gear," Knuckles reasoned, pushing past his trepidation regarding this and grabbing onto it.

The Warp Star flew up a bit, then went to the left, then went up again, and shifted to the right.

Having warmed up enough, the Warp Star went down a bit, then flew upward at an ever increasing speed!

"NEVER MIND, IT'S WORSE!"

* * *

The Warp Star flew at incredible speeds, but seemed to want to touch every cliff it got near with its bottom.

Once the got to a suitable destination, the transport smashed into the ground into several smaller stars.

"Oof!" Model ZX winced as he tumbled off. "I am not used to that…" he groaned, trying to rub his side through the armor as he got up.

"Really wish rides didn't have to be so bumpy when near other stuff…" The Princess got up and patted away any dust on her dress.

"Heeeyyy, I remember this place!" The Swordsman looked around and a blast of nostalgia hit him. Ruins high in the sky compared to the rest of the island. This was Angel Island Zone from Sonic Advance 1!

"As I said, I rebuilt as much of Marble Garden as I could using the remnants of Sky Sanctuary. Come on; the Emerald Shrine isn't far," Knuckles beckoned, heading over in that direction.

"I'm still kinda confused...other than that weirdness when we arrived...have we seen any hint of a Corrupted Zone?" Model ZX questioned.

"Maybe they're getting more subtle, or the Corruption's being selective. Don't really know," Amethyst pondered aloud.

" _Hm...this doesn't add up. Especially given Knuckles seems to know us already. We've never met…"_ X muttered in confusion.

"I guess all we can do is trust Knuckles then." Not that anyone especially had a problem with that. Save for Zero, but only as a precautionary paranoia.

However, as the group once again followed after the Guardian of the Master Emerald, the area started going staticy again.

"Again?" Model ZX complained, clutching his Buster as he waited for the enemies to reveal themselves.

"It's been happening all day," Knuckles stated. "Count yourselves lucky. I've been up all night dealing with these things showing up all over the island."

The static cut out to reveal a bunch of new Badniks! Rhino-Tanks, Wamus, and Leons!

Model ZX tilted his head. The Rhino-Tanks and the Wamus looked kinda like the RhinoBots and Catakiller Jr.'s they'd just fought back in Angel Island Zone. And then the Leons kinda looked like Newtrons.

"Eggman...is really unoriginal with Badnik designs, isn't he?" he questioned, snapping the ZX Buster back into the ZX Saber.

"Aw _man_ ," Starrior was getting pumped, not listening to his friend. Those Rhino-Tanks are from SA1!

AND NOW HE GOT TO FIGHT THEM~!

 **~FIRE ON!~**

With both Switches active, Sword States turned right into Flame Buster States! Starrior leaped at a tank and _smashed_ his giant blade into it, causing it to explode into pieces!

A Wamu charged at him, but was intercepted by Amethyst's own attack, which cleaved right through it.

Meanwhile, Model ZX dashed straight into the horde of Leons, slashing with the ZX Saber.

" _Seven."_ ***SLASH*** " _Five."_ ***SLICE*** " _...Nine."_

" _Zero, are you_ really _gonna rate every single attack he does?"_

" _Yes. Yes I am."_

A Leon flicked its tongue at Knuckles, but the Echidna caught the appendage and used it to smash the Badnik about like a flail!

Model ZX then decided to try a certain something. Specifically, he charged his Saber up, before slamming it into a large pack.

 ***BLAM!***

A large group of seven exploded all at once from the force of the charged saber.

" _...Eight."_

"...Aw, I thought I did good with that, too…"

"Tooooohh!" The Flame Swordsman spun, the giant blade striking and setting all the Badniks it sliced ablaze! Once he stopped his spin, a wave of heat finished them off!

He hefted his sword up and rested it on his shoulder. "Okay, I think we've done good, here."

While his back was turned, though, a Leon was about to barrel straight at him, but Amethyst sliced it to pieces before it could do so. "Uh, you sure about that?" she questioned, given how he didn't even seem to notice it.

"...I knew that it was there and you'd take care of it!" he lied.

Knuckles punched in the last of the Rhino-Tanks. "Not the time. We're almost at the Emerald Shrine," he said, before dashing off again.

"H-hold up! Omph!" Starrior trudged along, trying to drag his heavy sword with him. "This thing's not exactly easy to run with!"

Model ZX proceeded to dash past him. "Sucks to be you then!"

Princess Amethyst stopped by Rhody… then shrugged, running off to catch up.

"YOU ALL SUCK!"

* * *

"I don't remember things being so cloudy…" the Princess muttered to herself as they ran up the steps to the Shrine. It had been a perfectly clear day not even a few minutes ago.

"Maybe it's Harpuia's influence? He is like...wind and lightning, right?" Model ZX questioned, even as he wondered the same.

" _That_ could _be it, but...something still seems amiss,"_ X muttered to himself.

"I'll explain in a bit," Knuckles assured the group as they flew up the stairs. There, a familiar large green gem sat in a familiar shrine.

The Master Emerald.

"It… really gives off a presence," Starrior said to himself, staring at it. He felt… _something_ radiate from the giant gemstone. Maybe it was the ambient Chaos Energy? ' _Is this what all those anime characters talk about when they describe the pressure someone exudes?'_

Knuckles stepped up in front of the Emerald, facing the group. "Right, here's the deal," he said, crossing his arms.

"Your friend came here with his big, angry Glitchiness a while ago. Fortunately, the minute that aura of his came in contact with the Master Emerald, _something_ about its power kicked in, sending him out of here," he explained.

"But...that doesn't explain the weird stuff we fought on the way here," Amethyst pondered.

"I'm getting there. The problem, though, is the method the Master Emerald used to remove the problem. It was _Chaos Control,"_ Knuckles revealed.

"...We talking teleportation, slowing down time, or straight up time travel-It's time travel isn't it?" Starrior palmed his face. ' _Great._ Just _great. I hate time travel.'_

"...I thought you needed two Chaos Emeralds for tha-then again, it is the _Master_ Emerald," Model ZX muttered under his breath.

"It was time travel." Knuckles didn't look too happy about that. "Specifically, that green guy got sent all the way back to before the Death Egg even crashed on the Island. I know, because I remember this. It's fuzzy, but…" He shook his head, tapping it with a knuckle.

"Wait… no, no forget it! The moment I start to think about how the heck that even works will start to make my head hurt!" And Starrior was already clasping his head with both hands. "Either that, or it'll make X and Zero explode from trying to comprehend a Paradox…"

" _Since when was this a thing?"_ Zero asked flatly.

"...Is it really that hard to get?" Model ZX questioned, crossing his arms as he thought about it. "Maybe it's that I've seen Back to the Future a bazillion times, but…" He shook his head. "Anyway, Knuckles, how do we stop him?" he questioned.

"Simple. I'll use the Master Emerald to Chaos Control you all back there so you can stop him. Its power isn't unlimited, though, so you'll only have limited time back then before I have to bring you back," Knuckles said casually, as if him being able to perform Chaos Control was obvious.

...Which given who he was, it _did_ seem kinda obvious, so the group just decided to accept that he could.

"Wouldn't our presence, even if brief, still carry significant ramifications to the timestream?" Starrior asked.

"There's a possibility," the Emerald's Guardian admitted, "which is why if you end up causing a paradox, or changing how things are meant to go, _I'm gonna hurt you."_

"Uh."

"It'll be a punch."

"...Ok-"

"To the face."

"...okay…" That shut Starrior up.

"...Wait, Knuckles, you said you _remember_ what happened, right?" Amethyst realized. "Do you think you could-?"

Knuckles shot her a look. "I told you, it's fuzzy. I remember you three...that much is clear. Other than that, it's all blurry, although I can fill in the blanks perfectly fine as it is."

"See what I told you about thinking about it too much?" The Flame Swordsman glanced at the Princess.

Knuckles then leapt on top of the Master Emerald, closing his eyes as he drew in some of its Chaos Energy. "The servers are the Seven Chaos…Chaos is power, enriched by the heart..."

For a brief moment, a white aura glowed around him. "Master Emerald, heed the call of your Guardian. In order to preserve the timestream, I must send these three back to the past."

And then...Knuckles turned pink, entering his Super Form. Opening his eyes, he pointed a fist ahead. "Chaos...CONTROL!" he roared, before punching out.

And a Space-Time rift opened up, looking like a violent purple energy aperture. "Go!" he urged the rest of the group.

"Okay, that was cool," Starrior commented before dashing into the rift. ' _Wonder if it'll be like Doctor Who in here…'_

"W-Woah…" Model ZX stuttered in awe, before following after Starrior.

"Don't worry, Knuckles! We'll take care of everything!" Amethyst promised, before following after her friends.

Knuckles grunted as they all entered the rift. He couldn't move without closing the rift, but he couldn't maintain his Super Form for long without Rings, or draining the Master Emerald to the point that Angel Island would fall back into the sea again.

"You all...better…" he said between grit teeth, a bead of perspiration flowing down his brow.

* * *

"GAH!" Starrior landed flat on his face as he exited the warp. ' _I've been doing that a lot, lately…'_ "Well, that was trippy-OOF!" Before he could finish his thought, Model ZX exited, landing on his back.

"Gah...sorry, dude…" his friend apologized.

Amethyst landed on her feet, but winced and shuddered heavily, ' _Aaaaahh, I forgot to bend my knees…'_

"Hey! Who the heck are you guys?!" a familiar, yet younger-sounding voice rang out, demanding to know the group's identity.

"Huh?" The three turned their heads in the direction of the voice and-' _Oh my gosh, he's adorable!'_ And Rhody had thankfully not said that aloud.

For standing in front of them...was _Classic Knuckles_ , complete with black eyes and all.

"Hey! I asked you a question!" Knuckles declared, waving a fist at them.

"Oh, sorry! _Oath, get off me._ " Starrior hissed that last part. His friend quickly replied and the Rider got up. "Uh…." ' _Oh crap, we didn't even plan out what we'd say! What do we tell him…'_ "Would you believe that we're from the fu-GAH?!"

Amethyst had quickly stopped him from saying that by clonking him with her shield. "What he means is, there's something happening on this island, and we came here to help you deal with it," she hurriedly said.

" _Hm...Is he actually gonna believe that, is the thing?"_ Zero questioned.

"Why should I believe a bunch of weirdos who popped in out of nowhere?!" Knuckles retorted.

" _Called it."_

"Weirdo…" Rhody sounded a bit hurt at that comment. ' _It's the Goron Tunic look, isn't it?'_

"Look, uh...it's, uh, Knuckles, right?" Model ZX started awkwardly.

"How do you know my name?!"

"That's not important! What do we have to do to prove that we're telling the truth?" Chris questioned.

And then the four felt the ground rumble under them.

" _That never sounds good,"_ X noted.

Knuckles immediately swiveled, his eyes widening. "That feels like it's coming from my sanctuary!" he said in shock.

"And that is probably what we came here to stop," Amethyst muttered.

Off in the direction of Sky Sanctuary, which could be seen from where they were, the group could see storm clouds beginning to seeth around it. It looked...violent, for lack of a better word.

"...Alright, I believe you," Knuckles decided. _Something_ weird was definitely going on up there. "You came here to stop that...that...whatever's going on up there? Then follow me; I know a shortcut," he said, dashing off.

And it was about that moment that the group realized where they were...which in hindsight, shouldn't have been an issue.

Namely, Mushroom Hill Zone. As if the giant mushrooms everywhere didn't give it away.

"I don't know if it's a good or bad thing that we didn't land on a mushroom…" Starrior muttered to himself as he deactivated the Fire Switch.

* * *

As the group trekked through Mushroom Hill, Knuckles shot a look back at them. "So where did you guys even come from anyway?!" he questioned, leaping onto a mushroom that sent him into the air. He then proceeded to glide to a wall, then climb up.

"Oh sure, leave us eatin yer dust, why don't ya…" Rhody quietly said to himself as he decided to use a feature of Starrior that he had been neglecting.

He jumped and bounced off the same mushroom and the pack on his back fired off a gust of air! It kept doing so until he clung to the same wall, though he didn't have quite an easy time climbing up as Knuckles did.

"Uh, guys? I thought we were trying to keep up the pace?" Model ZX's voice called out. Knuckles and Starrior both looked up...only to see Amethyst and Model ZX both sitting on top of the wall.

"What the-?! How did you get up there?!" Knuckles shouted in surprise. He was the best climber on the island! ...And...the _only_ climber on the island until today, but he was still the best! How did they manage to beat him?!

"Chris wall-kicked," Amethyst shrugged.

"That was a little scary, I'll admit, especially since I had to carry you up as well…" Model ZX said uneasily. He hadn't exactly done that before, after all.

"...Hey, Oath. Give me a hand up," Starrior asked, being the last to near the top, as Knuckles' greater climbing speed had let him get to the top before him.

On auto-pilot, Model ZX reached out his hand, before stopping for a second. "Wait, you're not gonna throw me overboard, are you?" he asked suspiciously. He wouldn't exactly put it past him, really.

"Oath, seriously, I could use a hand. Why would I do that?"

"...Yeah, I dunno what I'm thinking," Chris admitted. "Why _would_ you do that in a situation like this?" So, giving a shrug, he reached down to pull Starrior up.

And then Starrior pulled as well.

Pulled to the point that Model ZX tipped over the ledge and fell.

But since he had been holding onto Starrior, this meant Starrior would've fallen as well, had he not grabbed a vine..

"GAH! ...Why did you do that, you moron?!"

"I was trying to get back at you for being a smartass! Now let go!"

"...Are they always like this?" Knuckles glanced at Amethyst, who was pinching her brow at the idiocy being displayed.

"GAH! OW! Watch it! You kicked me on purpose!"

"No duh, I kicked you on purpose! YOU TRIED TO PULL ME OFF THE LEDGE!"

* * *

"Anyway," the four ran through the mushroomy jungle, Knuckles deciding to keep pace with the slowpokes, "we come from off the island. A friend of ours, well, friend of his," Starrior pointed to Model ZX… who still looked peeved, "got hit with something called Corruption. Now he's on a rampage and we need to beat it outta him."

"Right...sounds crazy," Knuckles decided. "But _something_ is going on up there, so I'll believe you."

Just then, the group came to a cave. "In here. This is my shortcut." Knuckles waved them in, leading the way.

Swiveling in front of them was a rainbow-colored Giant Ring.

"Woah." ' _A real Special Ring!'_ Amethyst recognized this cave, now!

' _Of course! The Hidden Palace Warp!'_ Model ZX realized. ' _Sky Sanctuary connects directly to there!'_

"Just jump on through, and we'll reach the guy who's causing the ruckus."

"Right. Let's go, guys!" Amethyst decided, before the quartet all leaped through the Ring, thinking they'd go straight to Hidden Palace. Only…

As soon as they exited, Knuckles got hit in the face by a blast of fire.

"Gah!" he winced, back-pedaling into Starrior. "What are we doing in the Lava Reef?!" the Echidna Guardian demanded, seeing the familiar rocks all around him.

"Oh man, the Corruption could affect those things, too?!" Starrior was shocked at this. He hadn't thought _this_ could happen!

"Which means we really need to hurry." ' _If the Corrupted Zone gets any bigger, then all of Angel Island'll get covered!'_ the Princess thought as she looked around for the way to go.

"Come on." Knuckles wiped his muzzle and went forward. "I know the shortest way from here, but it'll still be a trek through all sorts of booby traps."

"I really wish we had Fefnir right now…" Model ZX muttered to himself as he followed after the Echidna.

" _Unfortunately, we don't. As it stands, Rhody has the biggest advantage here, due to his Fire Switch,"_ X observed.

" _...Are you sure it works like that, X?"_ Zero questioned.

They went through the caverns of the Lava Reef, avoiding all of the ancient traps, including the flamethrowers, that've been there for who knows how long. Knuckles halted the three and jumped up to hit a button, opening up a doorway. "Be careful. There'll be lots of lava here."

"Kinda goes without saying in a lava reef," Amethyst said under her breath.

And, "Woooooooaaaahh," this… definitely looked a lot more expansive than in the game. This particular cavern was pretty open. And had lava _everywhere_. Pouring from the ceiling, erupting upward, you name it. Thankfully, there were plenty of rocks about to make it through. Though one misplaced step could lead to a serious case of hotfoot.

The four took their time going through this section. As Starrior walked forward, his foot hit a pebble.

Normally, it wouldn't have gone far. But with his Rider Enhanced strength, it traveled a distance across the entire room and hit a wall…which began to rumble.

"Oh boy…" The Echidna's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. "Okay, time to stop taking it slow and book it!" The damaged wall began to collapse, lava shooting out of the holes that appeared!

"Aw, crap!" Model ZX yelped, trying to make it across as fast as he could. Dash-jumping helped with that, even if he barely had any space _to_ dash on some occasions.

The wall completely erupted, lava pouring out like a flood!

"Okay, not taking any chances!" Starrior grabbed Amethyst and began to carry her, then leaped! He used the Air Pack to gain more distance!

"I'd complain about being carried like this so many times," the Princess commented on the fact that she was being carried bridal style, "but right now I'm more worried about not being engulfed in liquid earth!"

The rushing group saw the end of the cavern, which ended in a steep drop but had several floating platforms above. "There!" Knuckles leaped on top of the platform, then onto the next. The series of platforms were increasing in height! The others followed as quickly as they could.

Eventually, they reached the top, the area being incredibly open with a hole at the very top, revealing sunlight. "Phew. Thankfully, that won't be enough to restart the volcano," Knuckles muttered. "Alright, it's just a straight shoot from here…" He narrowed his eyes, however as a feeling crept across him.

"What's up?" Amethyst got out of Rhody's arms and looked toward where he was facing.

"Something's wrong… I don't know what, but I can _feel_ that things aren't right up ahead."

Model ZX strained his vision. "I think I can see why…" he muttered, seeing the red static of a Corrupted Zone off in the distance.

" _Hm...this will be tricky. You'll have to make sure Knuckles doesn't get Glitched himself. It would be the worst case scenario at this point,"_ X stated in concern.

"Knuckles, wait up!" Starrior screamed as he tried to catch up to the red Echidna, who had decided to just barrel ahead out of concern for the Master Emerald.

" _Or, he could run face first into danger like an idiot,"_ Zero deadpanned.

"Well, we can't just leave him there! Come on, let's go!" Model ZX declared, dashing after the Master Emerald's Guardian.

The three made it past the edge of the dense Corruption, noticing that it was affecting the architecture of the Hidden Palace. Eventually, they reached the Emerald Shrine, seven empty spaces surrounding it, and Knuckles, looking around for the source.

"Wha-?" Starrior stared at the Guardian in confusion. "Uh… Knux… you alright?"

"...First off, don't call me that...whatever it is. Secondly, is there a reason I wouldn't be?" he questioned.

"Um...kinda?" Amethyst volunteered, looking confused. Knuckles didn't have the protection they did against Corruption, right? How was he still fine?

" _...I wonder if the Master Emerald is protecting him…"_ X pondered, staring at the large gemstone. Chaos Energy could do some strange things, after all.

"Huh… well, whatever it is I'm feeling right now, it's making my skin crawl. I'm gonna hazard to guess that it'll go away once we take care of your friend?"

"Uh… yeah. But now we just need to find him," the Princess glanced around.

"If he's not here, then he's probably in my sanctuary. Come on!" Knuckles led them to another chamber, this one containing a Warp Point in it. That familiar crimson marble orb that would one day send Sonic to Sky Sanctuary himself. "Step on. We'll be able to get to the Sanctuary from there." He jumped on and a red streak of light sent him up skyward!

Model ZX took a deep breath, before nodding to both of his friends, as they leaped on, getting propelled skywards as well!

* * *

As the group were teleported up to what would normally be Sky Sanctuary, they were struck by how... _different_ it was to how they remembered.

And it wasn't just the storm clouds everywhere, the entire Zone looked completely different! More enclosed spaces that resembled ruins, with hieroglyphics plastered on the walls. Many many pillars were sprinkled throughout it as well.

"What...What happened?!" Knuckles said in abject horror, gazing at what was normally his sanctuary; the place he liked to come to when he needed a small break from his duties as Guardian of the Master Emerald.

"This...looks nothing like how I thought…" Model ZX said to himself in shock, gazing around.

"Uhdu-ah-a-uh," Starrior dropped his blade and trembled at the sight.

"Rhody?" Amethyst said in concern, looking very very confused and concerned as he started going into histrionics.

"So many lives gone. So many game overs. We're here. No extras. No Continues. Hardest Level…" he kept whispering to himself in horror, dropping to his knees. He knew this place.

He knew this place _too well._ And now _it was real._

"Aeon, what's wrong?!" Model ZX exclaimed, trying to shake him out of it. Sure, he was still heavily annoyed about the whole 'dragging him off a cliff' thing, but...well, Rhody was still his friend, regardless.

"OATH!" He grasped his friend's shoulders, "You're… you're gonna have to go on without me…"

"What?!" The Princess went up to her friend. He wasn't acting like himself at all. "Rhody, what's wrong? Why are you so…" her eyes widened slightly as she finally recognized what the corrupted Sky Sanctuary looked like.

 _Chaos Angel Zone._

Knuckles, however, didn't really get what was going on, and in fact was getting really peeved. "Get a grip!" he yelled. "Are you really gonna just sit there, scared?! I thought you came here to help me fix my Island?!"

"I WANT TO!" Starrior shouted back, only to grasp at his head, "I… I can't..." The area was perilous. Way beyond the usual 'Final Level' area of difficulty he was used to. "I…" his voice was quivering, he didn't have the skill to go through this place, there was a very likely chance that he'd actually die here. This wasn't a game anymore, after all… "I'm not good enough to get through….I just can't…"

Model ZX was still confused. "What is going on?" he questioned, the confusion evident.

"You...never played Advance 3, have you, Chris?" Amethyst said uneasily.

"...No? What's that got to do with anything?"

"...This place looks like the final level of that. Chaos Angel Zone...it's one of the most _brutal_ final levels in history.."

"..." ' _Can't be worse than Eggmanland, can it?''_

"Well, I…" Model ZX shook his head. "I mean...it's not _actually_ that, is it? It's just...Sky Sanctuary looking like it."

Amethyst just shook her head. She had a feeling Chris wouldn't really get it from how he didn't recognize the place.

But she'd also played Sonic Advance 3. And she distinctly remembered a number of times this Zone had caused her to almost crack her GBA in two because of how _brutal_ it was. And with it now in reality, she couldn't in good faith subject Rhody to it!

"Knuckles," Amethyst turned to the Echidna, "we're gonna have to go on without Rhody."

"Huh?!" Chris said in surprise. They weren't just gonna leave him here because it was tough in a _game_ , were they?!

"...You sure?" The Guardian asked, now looking at the Rider with a bit more sympathy. He'd never really seen someone… well, break down period.

"I don't think he's in the best state mentally to be going through here." Amethyst answered honestly.

"...I'd be dead weight.." ' _I can't even move my leg right now…'_ "Just go… I'll stay here…"

"...Aeon...I know you're feeling horrible, but...that was just a game…" Model ZX said slowly. "You have like...jump boosts or something. I…" He deflated slightly. What was he doing?

" _Chris, it's not-"_ X tried to say, only for his Chosen to interrupt.

"Never mind…" Model ZX sighed. He didn't know what to say here. He didn't understand the situation the way the others seemed to, so he had no way to get Starrior to feel like he wouldn't be dead weight here.

"We should go," Knuckles took one last look at Starrior before walking off, the others doing the same and soon following.

Rhody was now alone…

"I hate this…" He clenched his fists. "I want to help… but… GHHAAAH!" Rhody punched the ground, making a crater.

But despite his desires, he still could not get his feet to respond to him…

* * *

He wasn't the only one feeling horrible at the moment, though. Model ZX couldn't pretend to know anything about Chaos Angel, but the fact was that now he felt miserable.

"How can he say that he's dead weight...if anything, I'm the dead weight here compared to you two…"

" _Oh joy. One of_ these _moods. I can see why he's your Chosen, X,"_ Zero said flatly.

" _Zero!"_ X chided. Couldn't he see how bad Chris felt about having to leave Rhody behind?!

" _Look, I get how he's feeling and all, but there's no room for hesitation on the battlefield,"_ Zero said sternly. " _Maybe this place is that deadly, but we have no other choice but to go through and stop Harpuia. It won't just be Angel Island that goes, but the entire timeline as we know it. If Rhody can't realize that and work past his fear, then he has no place being here."_

"Guys." Amethyst looked on and saw the sheer drop that was separating them from the next piece of land they needed to go, the only things connecting them are platforms that looked like it was a wise idea to _not_ stand on them.

"Um...I, uh...don't think a Dash Jump would get us over there…" Model ZX mumbled, seeing the distance. He couldn't even begin to figure out how lengthy it was.

"I'll be able to get there through gliding and climbing up the wall. Sorry, but you two are gonna have rush through those platforms," Knuckles apologized, before proceeding to get ready to do just that

"Right…" Amethyst began to steel herself and looked at Chris to see if he was ready to start making the jumps, "We're gonna have to do it together, otherwise they may fall before one of us can reach the next one."

"R-Right…" Model ZX stuttered slightly. "I'll, uh...try to not hold you back too much," he muttered, before getting ready to jump it.

The two ran and jumped onto the first platform, the structure immediately shaking and then began to fall downward. They wasted no time in jumping to the next one.

They kept jumping, their speed gradually decreasing due to less land to build it up.

Eventually, they reached the last platform and they jumped to the solid ground!

And Amethyst tripped, just falling short of reaching the other side.

Model ZX only realized that once he hit the other side.

"AMY!" he yelled, diving to try to grab her hand before she could fall.

He missed.

 ***CRASH!***

Knuckles made impact against the wall, his hand holding on to the Princess's. "Hold on," he growled out, "it's a bit hard doing this with only one arm." The Guardian used his strength to leap up the wall and smash his arm into it, creating holds for him to keep doing it over and over. The two reached the top, Knuckles throwing Amethyst up so Model ZX could catch her.

"I think… my life flashed before my eyes…" she breathed out, trying to get steady on her feet.

"S-Sorry...I couldn't grab you in time…" Model ZX's mood was getting a lot more crummy.

"Don't sweat it… I was the one who tripped." Although she definitely did _not_ want to repeat the experience.

"If you two are done, we still haven't found that friend of yours," the Guardian stated as he waited for the two to hurry up.

"O-Oh...right…" Model ZX mumbled, before the two of them followed after the Echidna once more.

They ran and jumped through more of Chaos Angel, encountering more of those falling platforms and sheer drops that would lead to instant death. They eventually came to an inner section of the former sanctuary, making it to a cable car-like platform, similar to ones found in Hill Top Zone.

They all got on, and it moved down.

"...Okay, I can see the ground from here, it's not too far down. Why is this here-YIPE!" Amethyst flinched back as a large boulder fell from the ceiling, almost hitting the cable car! More and more continued to fall!

"Okay," Knuckles punched a boulder that came _too_ close, "staying here's a bad idea. Let's jump off!"

"U-Um...right…" Model ZX nodded, before leaping off, swinging the ZX Saber to cleave any sudden boulders into pieces should they appear.

The trio landed… in a pit. The area was closed off and looked to be easy to climb or wall kick out of.

And then sections of the wall started to close in, starting from bottom to top.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Amethyst yelled as she jumped as the walls closed, using the sections to get herself out, along with the others.

"It figures," Model ZX grumbled as he wall kicked straight out of there, catching his breath for a moment once they were out.

"Okay, I'm really getting annoyed by how dangerous this place's gotten." Knuckles growled as he climbed out.

The three continued onward, making sure to dodge boulders that kept falling from the ceiling. They eventually made it back into the open area.

 ***SLAM!***

And now had to deal with boulders rolling after them.

"...Okay, you know what? I'm done with this," Model ZX decided, charging his Saber up. His plan was to simply smash through the boulders with a charged saber slash.

" _Err…are you sure that's wise?"_ X questioned.

" _A charged slash will be able to take care of a few boulders. But that won't stop the others, and it'll take time to charge up another slash,"_ Zero informed X's partner. " _While I'm getting annoyed too, the best option is to keep running."_

"...Sigh...Alright…" Model ZX muttered, turning tail to join the already-fleeing Amethyst and Knuckles.

The three kept running and encountered a wall with a ceiling. But in front of it was a hole. Having no other choice, they jump down and land on a… platform. This one began to move automatically, down then forward, and saved them from getting crushed.

"Finally," Amethyst sprawled on the ground. They hadn't been given any opportunities to catch their breath till now.

"...Mm…" Model ZX didn't exactly seem in a talking mood at the moment, from the sound of it.

Soon, the platform went down, right into another closed off area.

The Corruption was… especially prevalent here, now looking like how the Nexus and Halberd did when Corrupted.

" _X…"_ Zero could sense something very familiar down there.

" _He's here…"_ X agreed. He sensed it too. And knew it had to be him...

The platform landed, becoming one with the ground beneath them. Before them, a figure in green had their back turned.

"...Are you Harpuia?" the Princess asked, though she already knew the answer.

The figure turned around...and it was indeed Sage Harpuia himself, although he was looking rather pained, with his form seeming to glitch every so often.

" _Harpuia…"_ X spoke up.

"M-Master...X...I see that...you have obtained a...new Chosen…" Harpuia said, his voice as pained as he looked. "F-Forgive me...for not checking in...I...had a bit of trouble…"

' _This guy's the cause of all that's happened to Sky Sanctuary?'_ Knuckles thought as he prepared himself. He could feel it… there was tension in the air whether Harpuia was intentionally causing it or not.

" _...Seems you have control over your mind, Harpuia,"_ Zero noted. It was a far cry from how _he_ had acted in this exact position.

"...If only...that were enough…" Harpuia lamented. Suddenly, both of his twin purple beam sabers ignited, as he dashed forward to slice at the trio!

The two humans jumped back, and Knuckles Spin Dashed right into him, sending the Reploid skidding back.

"Geez, how long's this guy been holding back if he's faltering now?!" he questioned.

" _Sage Harpuia, stand down!"_ X declared in a commanding tone, that was rather rare coming from him.

"Gkh-! For... _for_ give _m_ e... _Master_ **X**. I...no longer _have CoNtRoL oVeR mY bOdY!"_ With that final declaration, Harpuia's form violently flickered into static...before something else emerged from within.

"Holy…" The thing the Sage turned into was nothing Knuckles had ever seen before.

But the others did. He resembled an eagle-shaped jet, with his head in place of the cockpit.

Harpuia had entered his Armed Phenomenon form.

"Oh...boy…" Model ZX gulped. This...was going to suck.

Harpuia immediately started the battle by firing out tornadoes from his twin thrusters, sending them hurtling at the trio!

Knuckles jumped up and tried to glide to his armored foe, but the wind around the tornadoes was strong enough to send him flying far off course!

Amethyst attempted to run to the side, but the vortex was strong! Despite running at full speed, she was essentially stuck in place!

As for Model ZX, he tried to fire the ZX Buster in order to stop Harpuia, but to no avail. The shots were being deflected by the tornadoes' high speed rotation...and they were also closing in on him.

"Crap!" he yelped, trying to dash to the side. It was only thanks to his boosters that he was able to not be stuck like the Princess was.

The Armored Harpuia saw this, though, and began launching missiles right at X's Chosen!

Model ZX immediately tried to swerve around the missiles...but was completely off guard as Harpuia then proceeded to ram straight at him!

He was charging right into a wall! But before they could make impact, Harpuia immediately swerved upward, something having slammed into him and influencing his flight path!

 ***SMASH!***

The Eagle-Jet shook, and Chris saw that it was Knuckles that saved his hide, the red Echidna hitting the spot he'd grabbed onto with his fists!

"Gh...thanks, Knuckles…" he said, slightly pained, before leaping up, spinning the Z-Saber into a Kuuenzan as he tried to slice away at Harpuia's Armed Phenomenon. The jet responded by firing electric lines from his talons, hitting Chris and preventing the attack from landing, sending the Mega Man Rider plummeting to the ground in pain! Harpuia then flew up, and began to do loops and all sorts of spins in order to try and fling Knuckles off!

"Grr...you're not getting rid of me that easily!" Knuckles said determinedly, pounding away at the large mechanism.

Eventually, though, his grip slipped, and he went flying into the wall head-first, flopping to the floor.

He looked dazed and out of it. Knuckles's contribution to the fight seemed to have ended for the moment.

"Knuckles!" Amethyst now glared at the now landing Jet-Eagle, as it began firing missiles right at her! She charged in, dodged the projectiles and using her shield when she had to. She got close and slashed at his wings, an attempt to stop Harpuia's flight capabilities.

However, her swing wasn't strong enough, and she was blown back by a point blank tornado!

"Amy!" Model ZX yelled, reaching a hand out. "You-!" he growled, charging up the Buster as he attempted to fire.

" _N-nO, wAiT!"_ Harpuia himself attempted to warn him, but it was too late. As Model ZX stopped to aim, electrical chains flew out from Harpuia's talons, securing and shocking him.

"GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Chris's vision was filled with electricity and pain.

The shocks continued, and his vision was beginning to fade.

"Chris!" The Princess ran. ' _No… I won't be able to make it in time before he-!'_

" _i'M… sOrRy, MaStEr_ _ **X**_ …" Harpuia could not even look away in shame at the actions he was the cause of. It looked like this was to be Chris's end…

...Except...

A figure dropped down from the opening of the enclosed space, and was falling right on top of the Jet-Eagle.

 **~SWORD!~**

 _ **LIMIT BREAK!**_

 ***SLASH!***

Starrior Sword States' blade cleaved right though Harpuia's left wing, making him gasp in pain and letting go of Model ZX!

Who, given he was still feeling the after-effects of being _electrocuted_ , fell to the floor in pain. "U-Ugh…"

"Hah… hah... Hah.. Sorry I… couldn't have gone with you in the first place, Oath." Starrior's breaths were labored, and the scuffs on his armor showed that he didn't make it here without problems.

" _Chris...Chris!"_ X urged his Chosen to get up.

" _Come on, get up. Are you gonna quit that easily, especially after Rhody's seemed to have plucked his courage up?"_ Zero questioned.

Behind his helmet, Chris's eyes refocused, as he shakily got to his feet. "A-Aeon?" he asked wearily, his vision still swimming from his impromptu shock therapy.

"Rhody!" Amethyst ran up; she felt like hugging both of them right now after all of that!

"Yeah… I'm surprised I'm here, too… didn't think I'd even survive to help."

Harpuia tried to take off, but without his wing, it was pointless. The Jet-Eagle faced the new opponent, and Starrior looked him.

"Uh… I'mma be honest… don't know how much longer I can go at this."

"Don't worry." Princess Amethyst's eyes glowed, determination shining through. "I'll make sure we can end this quickly." Once again, as her determination peaked, her pendant glowed, enveloping her in its raw power. However, there was a major difference this time as compared to the last few times it had happened.

Amy metaphorically reached out and _grabbed_ the power, shaping it with her will. The torso part of her dress become overlaid with more armor, and some of her hair faded back into her natural blond.

And four beautiful, sparkling butterfly wings erupted from her back.

She took one step, then launched like a bullet at the Armored Harpuia, who launched a tornado with his remaining wing. That did not stop her as she barreled right through and slashed the Reploid's chest with her enhanced blade.

"What the what?" Starrior was looking at what was occurring in both awe and… confusion. ' _Since when could she do this?!'_

"W-Wow…" Model ZX breathed out.

" _Hm...fast learner, that one…"_ Zero murmured. " _Not even a day after we mention her not using her full power, she goes and does something like that. Reminds me of a certain someone…"_

"Ghhhhh-!" Rhody smacked his sword against his thighs, "Come on, legs, she's able to keep fighting, I can't just stand here!" Getting a bit more feeling back into his legs, Starrior charged forward!

" _Chris...as much as I don't want to ask you...we have to keep moving,"_ X stated.

Model ZX shook his head slightly. "R-Right…" he said, slightly discombobulated from everything that had gone on the last five minutes.

As both of his friends attacked, he charged in with the ZX-Saber, leaping up, before attempted to stab straight down with a " **Rakuretsuzan!"**

The Jet-Eagle attempted to launch an electric chain, but Starrior immediately slashed the talon in a different direction, the chain missing and ZX's stab making a heaving impact!

" _GhHgH-!"_ Harpuia grunted in pain, his face grimacing. He shot more electric chains all over the battlefield, and one was about to hit the prone Knuckles!

"GAH! Who, what, where?!" The Echidna looked around in confusion.

"...Oath, I'm about to do something stupid." Starrior looked at his tired friend.

"...Just don't get yourself electrocuted for too long. Take it from me, it hurts."

"Yeah… about that…" Starrior wasted no time in dashing in front of Knuckles and grabbing hold of one of the chains! "GHHHHHHKKKK!" ' _Pain-! It hurts… but,'_ he raised up the arm that held the chain, ' _I don't have the right to complain… WHEN I WASN'T HERE TO HELP!'_ and connected it right into the Starrior Driver!

Suddenly, all the electricity surged toward the electrocuted Rider, the energy becoming one with him! The magenta lighting became a neon green, and the chain he held melted away.

In its place, a new Switch was created.

"Hey..." Starrior gasped, looking at the new light blue and light green Switch in intrigue, "Harpuia'd take normal damage from his own element, right?".

" _A-aS iT hApPeNs, ThAt Is ThE cAsE!"_ Harpuia himself rasped out, even as he started firing more missiles at Amethyst and Model ZX, who flew/dashed out of the way respectively..

"Alrighty. Just sit tight then," the Rider replaced the Fire Switch with the new one, which looked like a light switch.

 **~SPARK!~**

"We'll end this as soon as we can!" He deactivated Sword while activating the new Spark Switch!

 **~SPARK ON!~**

The visor on Starrior's helmet changed to a blue gem, and a crown like Fire's formed around it, this time a circlet. The armor changed color to a neon green, and dense electric sparks erupted from his head, feet, and arms!

Kamen Rider Starrior had gone into Spark States!

His fingers twitched, the build up of electricity being heard. They continued to do so, increasing in speed. Soon, a light blue-green shield formed around him!

The Sparking Warrior launched his arms forward, a large ball of pure electricity of the same color as the now go shield bulleted through the air, leaving behind the smell of ozone!

"Woah!" Model ZX ducked as it swept by him. "Hey! I already got electrocuted once today!" he yelled, even as he started charging his Saber.

The ball it, dead on, and while it did plenty of damage, Harpia was not reeling back all twitchy like electricity usually would leave someone.

"Gah…" Starrior looked at his hands, "This isn't gonna do… unless I can concentrate the electricity into one point." He immediately reactivated the Sword Switch!

 **~SWORD ON!~**

The sparks on his body were extinguished, and a light-blue alteration of the Sword cap appeared on his head! In his hands appeared a short staff. Then at both ends, a long yellow blade manifested, made of pure electricity!

"Heh… Always wanted to try this." The new Starrior Electric Mauler States charged in, and began to spin the electric weapon all about himself!

"Now, Rhody," Amethyst flew and stabbed her blade right through the remaining turbine, "you best be careful. You're liable to infringe some copyrights with that weapon and the way you're fighting!"

"That, and you're gonna shock yourself doing that!" Model ZX declared, slamming the charged slash down on Harpuia's back.

" _...I h-HaVe To QuEsTiOn, MaStEr_ _ **X**_ _, hOw ThEy ArE rEmAiNiNg So CaLm…"_ Harpuia managed to get out.

" _Hm...well, to be honest, I think it may be a coping mechanism of sorts. Humans aren't quite as prone to getting into these kind of situations as us Reploids are, after all,"_ X theorized.

"I'd be freaking out more, personally, but I kinda got electrocuted, so I don't care right now," Model ZX decided.

Just then, a curled up Knuckles hit the back of Harpuia's head! "Guhh…" he rubbed his head, "how long was I out?"

"Guys, now's the time!" Starrior pulled the Lever on his Driver!

 **~SWORD! SPARK!~**

 _ **LIMIT BREAK!**_

Model ZX rolled his neck slightly. "Alright...ready when you are, X! Zero!" he declared, twisting X around this time.

 **M.E.G.A. SYSTEM: OVERDRIVE INVOKE!**

The blue aura spiked up around him...as it seemed to funnel to the ZX Saber, which Model ZX switched back to the Buster configuration.

"Knuckles," Amethyst brought up her shield, power glowing within, "You ready for this?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." He stretched his arms and began to charge up a Spin Dash, the Princess, right behind him as her shield began to glow brighter.

And Starrior's double bladed staff sword had one end recede, the other one having its power become overclocked!

"HAH!" Amethyst and Knuckles screamed as the shield launched the Echidna with blazing speed, the attack smashing against Harpuia's frame and leaving a sparking dent!

Meanwhile, the energy of the Overdrive Invoke was overclocking the Charge function of the ZX Buster past its usual Level 2. Model ZX then turned X right-side up again.

 **ROCK ON!**

And he proceeded to fire something very familiar. Two large blasts from the ZX Buster, before he immediately switched it back to the Saber. "ORYA~!" he yelled, slashing forth a saber projectile to join the Buster shots. It was Zero's signature combo from the X-era days! The attack further exacerbated the dent and left an opening in the chest piece!

And Starrior took that as his call to charge in! " **Revol..."** He lanced his sword back, " _ **CRASH!**_ " and stabbed right into the open part of the chest piece, the destructive electricity building up inside of Harpuia's body!

He pulled it out, and then immediately ran from what he knew would happen next.

Sparks surrounded his frame, his body battered and broken from the fight, Harpuia's body began to emit shining lights as his internal components were ready to combust.

And despite that, the expression on his face was... calm.

 ***BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!***

And like that, Sage Harpuia exploded, damaging the foundation of where he had been.

...And Biometal Model H clattered to the ground.

* * *

The Master Emerald began to shine, brighter and brighter, until a beam shot upward, and expanded.

It soon engulfed the entire Sanctuary.

And the Corruption was gone.

* * *

"Anyone else feeling… strangely refreshed?" Starrior asked the group as they made it back to the Shrine. "I still feel beat up, but it weirdly doesn't feel so bad anymore."

"I dunno, I still feel kinda twitchy," Model ZX admitted, even as he hoisted up Harpuia's unconscious Biometal form.

Although, he _was_ kinda more focused on staring at Amethyst, given the...changes that had happened to her.

"Well, that was... Certainly an experience," Knuckles began, though he was still rubbing his head. His eyes also looked slightly unfocused. "You really did help out, though. Guess I gotta thank you for that."

"Hey, it was no problem," Amethyst waved off.

"So, you three heading back to wherever you came from?"

"Yeah, our ride's not gonna wait for us."

Speaking of, the space-time rift suddenly appeared right in front of them.

"...Well, you know what they say about speaking about something…" Model ZX commented.

"See ya, Knuckles. Hope ya take care," Starrior stretched out, and leaped into the portal so he could get some R&R sooner.

"I plan to, really...my head's still swimming; I'm gonna head to Ice Cap and stick my head in the snow for a bit…" Knuckles said slightly wearily.

"Fair enough, really. Hope you take care, Knuckles!" Amethyst said, giving him a short hug, before flying through the Chaos Control rift.

"...Yeah. Enjoy your future, Knuckles. It's gonna be great!" Model ZX said, a small smile behind his helmet before he leaped through.

"...Huh? ...Weird." Knuckles shrugged, before heading off to Ice Cap.

"Buncha weirdos, but they weren't bad. Guess some are like that off the island. Not gonna be inviting anymore, though…"

His head was still killing him…

* * *

As the trio warped back to the present, this time, they arrived on their feet...well, except for the flying Amethyst.

The present-day Knuckles panted in exhaustion as they came through, reverting to normal from his Super Form and leaping off the Master Emerald. "Guess you guys did it then…since the Island hasn't...blown up or anything." He wiped his brow.

"Now…" the Guardian jabbed his thumb behind him, "get off my island."

"Aw, come on, Knux!" Starrior got near him, "Can't we stay and celebrate saving the Timestream for a bit?"

The Echidna looked at him with half lidded eyes. "I thought I told you to _not_ call me that?!" He immediately uppercutted the Star Rider and sent him off the altar, screaming.

"Aw, come on! I thought we bonded!" his distant voice rang out.

"Also, what was that?" he questioned of Model ZX. "'Enjoy your future'...you stole that straight from Sonic!"

Model ZX laughed nervously. "Ahahahaha...I dunno, it just popped into my head...I was electrocuted 15 minutes ago; cut me some slack."

Knuckles blinked for a bit. "...Oh, right. Now I remember. Ugh...just thinking about that headache I got after all of that is giving me a headache right now!" he declared.

"Right," the Princess giggled nervously, "we'll just get out of your hair," she and Model ZX walked to retrieve Starrior.

"And next time, _call_ before you actually need to come here!" Knuckles yelled out.

" _Not a half bad job for a bunch of Rookies. You did good, kids. You're not exactly S-rank Hunter material, but...not bad,"_ Zero commented.

"Yay...does this mean we get to skip training for like...a week?"

" _Not a chance."_

" _Oh, come on, Zero. You saw how much exertion they went through today."_

" _...Alright, fine. Couple of days of rest. That's it."_

"Wooh," Amy lightly cheered as she picked up Rhody, the trio soon teleporting back to the Nexus.

* * *

"WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?!" Princess Amethyst yelled out as she looked in a mirror.

"Can you keep it down? Knux throws a mean uppercut, thanks," Rhody complained as he lay on the couch with an ice pack.

"Did you really not notice, Amy?" Chris asked blearily, about to pass out from the canceled transformation.

"Of course not! Why would I be freaking out if I'd _noticed?!"_ Amethyst demanded, waving her arms around, her wings flapping angrily behind her.

" _Like I said, you're a fast learner, Princess. Maybe you don't know_ how _you did it yet, but you're clearly tapping into more of your power than you have so far,"_ Zero commented.

"You know what that means, right?" Rhody grinned, "We gotta give your new form a name-! GAH, my head..."

X immediately perked up. " _Ah! I have an idea for that!"_

" _Oh dear…word of advice: when X actually cares enough to try naming something, don't listen to his suggestions,"_ Zero said flatly.

" _Honestly, Zero, you make it sound like_ all _of my ideas are bad. I was merely going to suggest something along the lines of 'Princess Amethyst: Radiant Form.'"_

"Radiant Amethyst, huh?" She rubbed her chin in thought. "Hmm… It has a nice ring to it. Chris, what do you think?"

"Zzzzzzz…" Unfortunately, the teenager had passed out on the comfy chair he was sitting on. Though strangely enough, he had a thumbs up despite lacking consciousness.

...Or was he?

"Okay, weird." Rhody glanced at his friend, "But yeah, Radiant's as good a name as any." He gave his own thumb up. "...By the way, you know how to turn that off?"

"I… don't think I can…" Amethyst's wings fluttered sadly. ' _How exactly am I supposed to control my powers if I don't know a thing about them?!'_

"Right…. Well, I'm heading off." Rhody stated as he carefully moved as to not jostle his head.

"Where are you going?"

"To see if there are any shops with Final Fantasy Merchants in them. I wanna see what their prices on Potions are…"

* * *

" _Hm…. they are getting stronger."_

" _What should we do?"_

" _...Let them continue. We can let them think that they're solving all these problems."_

" _After all, we still have other plans going on in the background."_

 _ **Episode 06 - Fin**_

* * *

 _ **The Aeon Offspring:**_ **To help give you guys context as to how Rhody's feeling, imagine having to take on one of Kingdom Hearts' Super Bosses but in Stage form. Chaos Angel is** _ **brutal**_ **. While I'm not sure we captured it fully here, this'll still give you a taste on what kind of** _ **BS**_ **those Acts were.**

 _ **OathToOblivion:**_ **That Zone is the sole reason you've never beaten Advance 3, right? How would you rate it in comparison to Eggmanland from Unleashed?**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Eggmanland's the sole reason why I never beat Unleashed (Wii Version), though that's an entire different category of difficult that doesn't compare. Chaos Angel kinda just exemplifies some of Dimps' bad Level Design choices, making** _ **technically**_ **a worse stage. But we're getting off track. Boom, the Heroes got Harpuia back. You can see him in action:** _ **Next Time!**_


	7. Episode 7

_**OathToOblivion**_ **: ...Hey, Aeon? Do you think it's possible for fanfiction to have filler?**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Well, it's sometimes necessary. Though filler can be used to develop characters. Just so long as it actually has purpose.**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: I guess. It's just that you'd think that if you're making a work like this, then every chapter would be important in some way. I don't mean, like, Ex-Aid levels of that kinda stuff, nor am I saying** _ **this**_ **Chapter is really that filler-y, but…**

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **: Eh, eh.**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: Well, whatever. Enjoy the chapter, everyone!**

* * *

"Are you sure it's okay for us to come in here?" Rhody looked incredibly pensive as they entered Amy's room. "I feel super uncomfortable right now."

"Oh relax, Rhody." The resident of the room waved off his concern. "I know you two aren't gonna do anything. Plus, my mom's been begging me to invite you guys over since I told her about you two."

"...Wow, your room is like...right in front of the street. I'm not surprised you cover the thing with curtains," Chris said, observing the window. "So, anyway, uh…" He wasn't quite sure what to say at the moment...or how to broach the subject he wanted to.

"What's up?" Amy asked as she started digging through her game collection. _'Let's see… Mario Party? Nope, definitely not that. Hmm. Smash is fun for a bit, but it always leaves me wanting to play something else, too…'_

"Uh…" Chris rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "I was, uh...wondering if you could show us your game?"

"My ga-OH!" Her eyes brightened up at the mention of someone wanting to play her game, "You really want to play it?"

"I guess? I mean, you made the thing yourself, right? That's...kinda awesome," he said awkwardly.

"EEeeee!" She dashed over to her computer and began to connect things to other things.

"You've excited her inner Game Developer," Rhody whispered to his friend. "Hope you're prepared to get asked a bunch of questions."

"Ehehe...well, you'd know all about that, right?" Chris said, lightly elbowing his friend.

"Ehhh…"

"Here it is!" Amy held up a… heart-shaped handheld console. It was jacked right into the computer, too.

"What is that?" both boys asked at the same time.

"It's… well, I don't really have a name for it. I took apart my old Game Boy Advance and started tinkering with it. I ended up putting some extra stuff in there, and gave it this neat Heart Shell."

"What?" Rhody couldn't help but look at the girl with sheer disbelief. She managed to do all of that?!

"...Amy, are you sure you're not a genius?" Chris blinked, not sure what else to say.

"Huh? What do you… oh." She lit up like a christmas tree. "I-I guess it's not exactly normal for someone to be able to do all this, huh…"

"Are you kidding, Amy, you're freakin' awesome!" Rhody admitted, which somehow made the girl glow brighter. "I wanna play the game, now, too! I call first!"

"Wha-I _asked_ first! Wait your turn!"

After a bit of arguing, Chris held the modded GBA in his hands.

"Okay, you first start off as Prince Topaz. You'll need to-"

"Amy, Amy," Rhody interrupted her. "I know you want to watch him succeed, but you gotta let him discover things on his own."

"But he won't be able to do it right at first, though…"

"You guys know I'm right here, right?" Chris quipped as he started playing the game. It seemed to be a blend of Top-Down Zelda with Turn Based RPG combat.

...The Turn-based stuff was one thing; he'd played Pokemon a bazillion times. The 2D Zelda-ish stuff was a different story, though. He'd never really played them before.

And right as he finished the tutorial, the game froze. "Um...this isn't supposed to happen, right?"

"Oh what the heck, I thought I finished Debugging this!" Suddenly, the screen went white and a blinding light shone from the closet! "Oh no, not again!"

"Wait, wha-?"

"I can't see!"

It grew brighter, then burst open, sucking the three in!

* * *

 _ **VG Heroes: Defenders of the Game World  
Episode 07 - Return to Gemworld**_

The trio popped out of a portal, Amy and Rhody immediately in transformed… while Chris was still Chris.

And now they noticed there were several hundred feet in the air.

"What the CRAAAAAAAAPP!" Starrior yelled as he and the others freefalled.

"THIS IS NOT FAIR!" Chris shouted, as he noticed both of his friends were in their transformed states.

"Why the sky again?!" Amethyst asked in frustration, before her wings caught the wind, causing her velocity to break. She quickly dove in to catch the untransformed Chris, seeing as he was most vulnerable.

"Oh yeah, that's fine," the Star Warrior had air eject from the pack on his back, slowing down his fall, "Leave the other guy to just fall, sure-OOF!" His complaints were interrupted by something flying under him and giving him a ride toward the other two. And it was a being all too familiar to the Princess.

"Pegacorn!" Amethyst said in delight, seeing her old steed come to Starrior's rescue.

Pegacorn snorted in happiness at seeing her, although he looked slightly confused at her look.

"Uh...long story," she said sheepishly. "Anyway, Rhody!" she glared at Starrior, "Chris isn't transformed! What did you want me to do?!"

"I'm right here…" Chris mumbled, slightly nauseous from the fall.

"We should… probably go down," the Rider currently on the Pegacorn said as he looked at his friend's face.

The group went down into the forest below, landing on sweet mother Earth.

"Phew. Never thought I'd go on a ride like that," Starrior said as he got off the winged horse.

"Hey, look who it is!"

"Huh?" The group turned and saw a small village.

Not small in width and length, but height. The building were all short.

Which was appropriate, as it fit the residents size. It was filled with Frog People

"Princess Amethyst has returned!" several residents shouted, causing many to come forward to see that, yes, it was true!

"Wasn't she a redhead before?"

"I don't remember her being a butterfly."

"Who's the kid and the weirdo with her?"

 _'Why do people keep calling me that!?'_ Rhody lamented.

"Hey, uh, everyone?" The Princess waved. "Is there anything wrong?"

"Huh?"

"What's she talking about?"

"Things seem pretty alright to me."

Amethyst blinked in surprise and a little confusion at that. "Okay, so the good news is that there doesn't seem to be anything wrong. Bad news…"

"We have no idea why we're here and have no way to get back?" Starrior finished her line of thought.

"Pretty much."

Chris, meanwhile, was looking at all the Frog People. "Well, uh...how did you go home last time?" he asked, before his eyes fell on the castle shining in the distance. "And, uh...who lives there?" he asked, pointing at it.

 _'...Oh. That.'_

"Actually… that's supposed to be mine," she admitted.

"Oh yeah, _Princess_ Amethyst," Starrior said, realizing that they were in the world Amy had talked to them about.

"Hmm…I don't see the old lady who sent me back last time, so...maybe the castle'll have something to lead us in the right direction back home?" Amethyst suggested.

"Only one real way to find out, I guess…" Chris shrugged.

* * *

 _Meanwhile, in the Nexus…_

 _"I see...Forgive me, Master X. I did not intend to lose contact with you,"_ Harpuia, who was now awake, apologized.

Harpuia felt ashamed that he been forced to fight them. Setting aside the fact that he had been forced to fight X and Zero, what had been worse was fighting against humans! The people he had sworn an oath to protect!

 _"It's fine, Harpuia. I'm just glad you're okay now,"_ X metaphorically waved it off.

 _"Course, it's not over yet. We still need to find the rest of your siblings. Any idea where they are?"_ Zero questioned of the former Neo Arcadian General.

 _"Hm...I'm afraid I do not know where Fefnir or Phantom went off to. Leviathan on the other hand…"_ Harpuia started to say, before a beeping from the console interrupted him.

The trio of Biometals turned to it, floating over. Zero and Harpuia looked at the console...before immediately realizing that there was no way they'd be able to read what it was saying.

The symbols were rather hard to decipher...

 _"...Okay, you're the only one who knows how to use this, X. What's it even saying?"_ Zero questioned.

 _"Hang on, Zero...wait..._ what?! _"_ X shouted in shock.

 _"Master X! What has you so distraught?!"_ Harpuia questioned, on guard for anything.

 _"Chris and the others...they're not in their world anymore! I don't know where they are!"_ X revealed, horrified now. If they were in a situation...Chris especially would be in danger without them!

 _"...I see. Master X, if I may suggest something? Perhaps we should go looking for them and leave Zero here in case they should return here?"_ Harpuia suggested. _"I am more mobile than either of you, plus if we fall into a trap, Zero would be able to use his ability to jam the M.E.G.A. System to extricate us from it."_

 _"...I don't like staying behind in a situation like this, but I agree with his suggestion, X,"_ Zero said, mimicking a nod.

 _"...Alright. I'm gonna try to lock on to the Bio Adapter's signal. Come on, Harpuia!"_

 _"At once, Master X!"_

* * *

 _Back in Gemworld…_

"You know, I was expecting to go through an Adventure 'n a Half just to get here, but that was actually pretty quick," Starrior commented as they neared the Gem Castle.

"Well, this is Amy's game, so...of course nothing would actually try to harm us?" Chris put out there. He was feeling a little uneasy though...the others had their powers, but X and Zero weren't exactly here at the moment.

He felt kinda... _vulnerable_.

"Well, Dark Opal hasn't acted up since I fixed the Level 6 Crash, so Gemworld doesn't have any monsters terrorizing things," she informed the two.

Finally, the group made it to the castle gates and-"These things are huge!" Starrior exclaimed, looking at the giant doors. They must have been at least 30 feet tall!

"Yeah… how did they expect for people to open this? Probably mechanisms on the inside that do it," the owner of the castle mused.

 _'Or...Hm...I wonder if-?'_

She glanced at her pendant, and grasped it with both hands. A beam fired from it, hitting the doors. They slowly opened up to them.

"Well, that's one issue solved," Amethyst said as she and the others walked in, "But…" Looking around… the entire castle looked empty. "Now comes the issue of finding someone to help."

"Where is everybody?" Starrior asked, mostly to himself, "Such a big place'd have at least a few people attending to it."

Like the exterior, the interior looked to completely be made of gemstones.

"...Well, I can tell that this place was supposed to be yours. Lots of gems everywhere…" Chris mentioned.

"The floor definitely makes a weird sound when ya step on it," the Star Warrior said as he dropped his foot down a few times to hear the gem make a clink sound. "Especially weird with your horse's hooves touching the floor."

Said horse glared at Starrior and snorted angrily.

"Oh, sorry, _Pegacorn_."

He snorted in a manner that conveyed thanks.

"I really should give you a proper name…" Amethyst muttered to herself as she checked around the hall.

"You mean you haven't yet?" Chris wondered. Coming up with a name kinda seemed like it would be something easy, really.

...Then again, names were an issue with him too. A certain 'Eiji Kadoya' sprung to mind immediately…

"Look, I can't decide on either Max, Quartz, or a combination of the two, okay?!"

"Okay, then," Starrior checked around some more. "How much do you wanna bet the thing we need to find is in the Throne Room?"

"Either that or the treasury," the Princess said. "I'd put the thing in either of the places."

"Throne Room then Treasury it is."

* * *

"Okay, the emptiness is really beginning to creep me out…" Princess Amethyst muttered as they walked into the Throne Room.

"...I dunno, Amy, doesn't it kinda make sense? I mean, you don't _actually_ live here or anything, right? Why _would_ there be people in here?" Chris pointed out. Somewhat awkwardly, because...she seemed kinda down the more and more they walked through here.

"Like, I don't know, like I said, maybe just _some_ people to keep this place in shape?" she shrugged.

"Well, I guess they didn't see much point in doing that, or something," Starrior half-heartedly suggested.

Amethyst had a bit of a pained look on her face. "It's...not like I didn't appreciate them wanting to treat me like a princess. It's just...I might have coded this world, but I guess I don't really know a thing about it, or why they keep calling me Princess in the first place. This...just isn't home," she admitted. Pegacorn nudged her back, a reassuring look on his features.

Starrior looked on, a bit uncomfortable. He headed up to the throne and checked around, "...Nothing here either, " the Rider put his hand on the armrest. "Maybe we should go to the trea-Huh?!" The throne glowed brightly before the light dissipated.

"...What was that about?" The Princess looked confused.

 **-KHRINK-**

A loud sound rang out and echoed in the room.

"...Uh...what exactly was that?" Chris asked, a confused look on his face as he pointed between the spot the throne had been, and the direction the noise had come from.

Suddenly, a large figure dropped down from the ceiling, slamming down on the ground right in front of Starrior! It pulled its fist back and _punched_ the Rider right in the gut, launching him right out the window behind the throne!

"Aeon!" Chris yelled, a look of panic on his face. This...wasn't gonna be good, was it? First, whoever that was had enough strength to send his friend flying...and he had no way of his own to fight back right now!

The figure turned, and revealed its features. Club like forearms and legs along with its massive frame were imposing enough, but that wasn't all this thing had going for it.

Its entire body was made of Crystal. Of which kind, they couldn't tell, but it was generally white with a multitude of colors reflecting off it in the light.

It turned to the Princess… and put a hand across its chest, then bowed. It stopped and immediately leaped out the window.

"...Wait...oh no!" Amethyst realized, her eyes widening. "Chris, come on! I think I know what's going on!" she said, pulling her friend after her, Max/Quartz the Pegacorn following after them.

"Y-Yikes! A-Amy! Slow down! Vanilla human back here!"

* * *

"G-gaahh…" Starrior got up with some effort in the Castle Courtyard, arm holding his stomach. "Normally people only hit me for touching stuff _after_ they told me, not without warning..."

The Crystal Guardian dropped down, causing the ground to shake from its weight, and dashed right at the Rider!

"Right, worry about that later, now's time to bust some heads."

 **~SWORD ON!~**

The Guardian threw a left punch that the Swordsman dodged and returned with a swing down at the appendage!

"GAHHGGHGHGHGHGHG!" It hit, but not only did it not even scratch the crystal, but the vibrations from the slash sent Starrior reeling back.

The Crystal being jumped up and slammed the ground, sending a shockwave that made the Rider fall on his back!

"Okay, Sword will _literally_ not cut it." He switched off Sword and activated the next Switch he had.

 **~FIRE ON!~**

Fire States blazed upward and dashed around the giant as it tried to squash him under its heel!

Starrior unleashed a stream of fire at its back, enshrouding the being in an inferno!

However, a hand launched out and grabbed the Blazing Rider, making him stop the assault as it began to squeeze!

"GHHG-! RIGHT! CRYSTALS… DON'T REALLY… MELT!" The Guardian threw the Star Warrior to the ground, harshly bouncing off it a few times.

"STOP!" Amethyst yelled as she, Chris, and the Nameless Pegacorn ran up. "He's not an intruder; he's one of my friends!" she said to the Crystal being.

The Crystal Guardian looked down at the Princess and stared. After a few moments, it nodded, then began to lumber back to its resting place.

"Ghk…" Starrior attempted to get up, only to fail.

"Um...sorry I didn't realize what that was sooner, Rhody," Amethyst said sheepishly. "I think it was one of the castle guards. ...And, that's probably why no one was in there."

"That thing tried to _kill_ me…" he growled, the transformation cancelling. "And now I can't even get payback." He collapsed, arms and legs not complying to his demands.

"You, uh...did kinda mess around with the throne," Chris said uneasily.

That earned a very heated glare from Rhody.

"Um…" He wasn't sure what else he could really say at the moment, honestly.

"Right, we should get you healed up… uh..." Amethyst trailed off when she realized that…they didn't have anything to do that with.

 _'Darnit! He's hurt and I can't do anything about it!'_

Suddenly, her pendant began to glow, then launched another beam, this time at Rhody!

"GHHHHHWUUAA-HOWW!" He leaped into the air and landed on his feet. "What the heck was that?!" he yelled, then froze as he patted himself down. "I feel better?"

"I… didn't even know I could do that…" Amethyst said slowly as she wiped her brow. Why did she suddenly feel a bit worn out?

"...You mentioned earlier that you didn't really have much idea about your powers, right?" Chris questioned, something flashing into mind. "As long as we're here...why not check the Royal Library? Maybe it might have something about this?"

"Maybe...but most of what's been going on lately is because of my pendant. It's not part of my basic powers...or so I thought." the Princess hummed as she thought about it more in-depth. "I guess there's no harm in it. No Dark Opal means no reason for us to fight bad guys or anything."

"Right…" Rhody said as he still looked over himself, still weirded out at being suddenly rejuvenated. "To the Library it is, then."

* * *

Meanwhile, in another part of the Gemworld, a familiar portal opened, X and Harpuia floating on through.

 _"...Harpuia, you're sure they're_ here? _"_ X questioned, gazing around.

 _"Of course, Master X. I see no reason to doubt my scanners, especially after you fed me the tracking data,"_ Harpuia stated, sniffing slightly. As if he'd do anything less than perfect for Master X!

 _"It's just...this is, for lack of a better term, Princess Amethyst's home world. Why are they_ here? _"_ X wondered.

Suddenly, a tree turned to face them, and it had a human face for...some reason. "Hey, there," it greeted the two with a rather southern accent.

 _"...Master X, are you_ sure _I'm rid of all of the Glitches that had infested me?"_

 _"I checked using my own antiviral protocols. You're clean, Harpuia."_

 _"Then I'm_ not _hallucinating the talking tree."_

 _"...Unfortunately, no."_

"You two fellas lookin' fer someone?" It smiled. Really creepily as well.

"I'm sure we can help you find them." Several flowers grew eyes and mouths and began to look at them. A deer walked by and sniffed the flowers, then ate one.

"Ooh! Ooh! Pick me next!" "No, no, pick me next!" The flowers all tried to urge the deer to eat them first.

 _"..."_ X was speechless at all of this. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the green one of the pair.

 _"What...is this TRAVESTY OF NATURE?!"_ Harpuia spluttered. He adored nature; hell, he was created along with his siblings to help bring it back to their world after the Maverick Wars had torn the planet apart!

But this... _This..._

"Say, are you looking for Princess Amethyst?" a few lily pads began to speak to them

"Oh yeah! I remember seeing her and a guy and a weirdo walk toward the castle!" a bush spoke up.

"I remember calling to them in greeting," another tree spoke, "but all they did was wave and hurry off. They must have really important stuff to do there!"

 _"...Master X...please tell me we do not have to consort with these...these..._ creatures _any longer?"_ Harpuia pleaded.

 _"Unfortunately, we don't have much choice, Harpuia. You haven't actually met any of them yet, so you can't scan for their biosignatures. I don't like this either, but these..._ people _are our only lead."_

 _"...Very well. If that is your will…" 'Ugh…'_

X proceeded to then turn in a confused manner. He knew that these forest dwellers wouldn't be able to hear him, so he was trying to make it apparent that he was trying to figure out where the castle was.

"Hmm… can't speak, eh?" the southern tree asked. "We'll, ya look like you did agree to looking fer the Princess. If ya float up a little, you can see the castle."

"It's pretty hard to miss," a flower said as the deer plucked it from the ground and ate it.

Sure enough, as the two Biometals floated slightly higher, they saw the castle!

 _"Great! We'll just head straight there, then! Come on, Harpuia!"_

 _"At last...err, I mean, of course, Master X!"_

With that said, the two Biometals zoomed off in the direction of the castle.

"Buh-bye!" "See ya later!"

 _"Not on your life…"_ Harpuia muttered to himself.

 _"Hm?"_

 _"Err, nothing, Master X!"_

* * *

"So, Amy, why did you make that forest so…"

"Creepy?"

"I was gonna say uncomfortable, but glad you feel that way, too," Rhody said as he looked through the Library's shelves. Thankfully, things were alphabetized.

The Princess sighed. "I was trying to invoke the whole Mario feeling by giving them faces. You know, how a lot of stuff in Mario has Beady Eyes? I just never expected them to be so… _creepy,"_ Amethyst shuddered.

"...So, were they not _supposed_ to be able to talk then?" Chris questioned, dropping down a book that was talking about the gemstone of Chrysocolla from where it had been hiding his face while he had been reading it.

"I didn't code that in, no. I guess some things just go beyond you once you go into a game's world." Although, now that she thought about it...a lot of stuff about Gemworld didn't make sense in comparison to what she remembered programming.

"Remind me, what are we looking for, exactly?" Rhody asked.

"I guess _something_ that might tell me more about...everything, really," Amethyst shrugged, scrunching up her face as she thought about it. "Why everyone calls me a Princess, why I have these powers in the first place...that stuff."

"Still kinda vague…" Rhody muttered under his breath, "Not like I'm just gonna find a book telling me-oh." The teen stopped as he saw a book titled 'Gem Magic' on the next shelf. "Well, this' a good a start as any." He pulled it out and brought it to the table for the others to look.

"Gem Magic...well...you have a gem motif and use magic…" Chris decided. Seemed to make sense to him.

"Right, so...this might at least be able to tell me about my powers," Amethyst nodded, reaching out to crack the book open.

"Let's see…" Starrior's user pushed up his glasses. "Magic Gemstones channel inner Mana, blah blah blah. Can be dependant on Emotion, blah blah blah. Different gems can give different elements-This reminding you of Wizard?" he glanced at Chris.

"...Only the different gems equals different elements thing, really," Chris shrugged. "The rest of it seems...pretty standard fantasy, honestly."

"Yeah, I'm gonna need to put a few more twists in this before I can put it out for general con-wait, hang on," Amethyst realized, stopping herself from getting side-tracked, "if different gems mean different elements...does that mean I have an element right now, and I didn't even know?"

"I dunno, your magic blasts seem kinda generic, bra." Rhody pointed out, "I'd say your element is Null, more than anything right now."

"Aw…" Amethyst deflated slightly. It woulda been so cool if she could, say, blast a Firaga or something!

"...'Bra'?" Chris mouthed in confusion, looking slightly dubious before shaking his head. "Uh, you sure about that?" He pointed at Amethyst's slightly drooping wings to punctuate what he was saying.

"...Oh yeah! ...I have no idea what kind of element butterfly wings map to," the Princess of Gemworld decided, even as they unconsciously flapped for a bit.

"Oh what, she's like Emiya Shirou and has an irregular element?" the other teen boy asked.

 _'...Where have I heard that name before...oh yeah!'_ Amethyst remembered. "Wait, isn't that a character from a Visual Novel that's-"

"Only the original release!" Rhody quickly interjected. "Those parts were taken out of every other version."

"Riiiiiight."

"...Okay then…" Chris had a flat look on his face from the current shenanigans. "Anyway, wings in general suggest wind, but I dunno," he shrugged, plopping into a chair, blowing some hair off his forehead.

"Hmm…" Rhody began flipping through the pages of the book, looking for anything of interest, until some words and pictures caught his eye. "It says here that Gemworld has some mines that house magic gems. And… huh. Some mining expeditions were led by the Royal Family." He looked at the girl in the room. "You a miner or related to miners?" A flat look was her response to him. "I'll take that as a no."

"Hang on, give me that for a sec," she said, grabbing the book, trying to flip through and see if she could maybe spot anything else the book had said about the royal family. ...Which it didn't.

"Rats. Knew it'd be too easy," she huffed, putting the book back on the table.

"There's a lot of books in this place. It could take days, even weeks to try and find the info we want…" Rhody muttered. "Hm… I'm gonna check and see if they have anything on maps of this place."

"Hm? Oh, don't worry about that. I memorized the map of the whole of Gemworld while I was designing it up," Amethyst mentioned casually. "I have it pinned near my bed."

"...That's handy," Chris decided, looking at the book he had been reading earlier.

"...Why do you want a map anyway, Rhody?" the Princess questioned.

"Well, if there were mines that had expeditions directed by the Royal family, then maybe we could find something there. Mine Shafts tend to hold some sort of treasures or info in 'em."

"That makes sense. Hm…" Amethyst considered this. It was true that looking through all the books might take them more time than they had to spare. So doing this would probably be the speedier method.

"Alright! Sounds like a plan. I _think_ I know where they'd be on my mental map," she mentioned, tapping her head.

"Alright, time to go on a hunt for the ehmeralds," the Starrior user joked.

"I think Knuckles might kill us if we drop in without warning again," Amethyst said in an amused tone of voice.

Rhody rubbed his jaw. "Guh, I can still feel that uppercut…"

"...Um…"

Both of the others blinked, before realizing that Chris had spoken up.

He was looking kinda hesitant. "...You guys don't think there'd be any monsters down there, do you? I mean...caves generally have monsters in them, right?"

"Let's see," the other boy put a hand on his chin, "Fantasy setting with all sorts of strange creatures and a cave that probably hasn't been occupied in who knows how long?" He looked at his friend. "I'd say we'd need to go into it expecting a fight… Wish X was here, huh?"

"No, I _enjoy_ being defenseless against things that want to eat my face off," Chris said sarcastically in a flat tone. "If it's all the same to you two, I kinda want to stay here and keep looking up info. ...It's the only thing I'm really good for right now anyway…" he muttered.

"Fair enough, not like we can actually call X," Amethyst stated as she held off Rhody from flicking Chris in the head. "Not like we can make a signal fire that'll reach him."

"We can try burning down a forest?" That suggestion just made the other two stare at Rhody. "What, when Link does it, it's fine, but when I even suggest it, it's met with criticism!?"

"It's not fine when Link does it, either!"

"...Whatever…" Chris sighed, digging back into the library. "You guys just go have fun or...whatever. I dunno."

"Oath, when we get back, I'm gonna flick that pessimism outta you," Rhody said while putting on his Starrior Driver.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever...I can't stop you anyway…"

Amethyst frowned. "Chris, are you okay?" she questioned, concerned.

Chris sighed as he came to a halt. "I'm fine. You two go on. What's the worst that could possibly happen to me in a library, seriously?"

"...Paper cuts…" Rhody began to think out loud while fiddling with a switch. "...A book falling on your foot… more paper cuts…"

"I think that was a rhetorical question-"

"Really deep paper cuts…"

"It wa-"

"Falling asleep in a chair and getting back pains…"

"Okay, sto-"

"Falling asleep on a book and possibly getting a paper cu-"

* * *

"Was hitting me really necessary back there?" Starrior questioned as he and Amethyst walked to the mine.

"You weren't gonna stop anytime soon."

"I was starting to run out of things after 'Paper cuts on your foot'."

"I think Chris was about to run out of patience before that," Amethyst pointed out dryly. "...Seriously though, is he okay? I know he gets nervous a lot, but I haven't ever seen him this down."

"He's got… self esteem issues," the boy decided to tell her. "He's never told me what happened, but he said that something happened to him a while back that shattered his self confidence. He's been like that for a while now." He sighed. "No matter how many times me and his other friends try to pick him back up, he constantly puts himself back down."

"...I can't pretend to understand that, but I can kinda relate to it. Before I came to Gemworld the first time, I spent all my time shut in my room, messing with my games," Amethyst admitted. "I didn't have any friends at all. Who'd want to be friends with some gamer chick, right?"

"I'll tell you the same thing I tell Oath, er, Chris," Starrior patted her shoulder reassuringly, "You're fine." As he said that, the two reached the entrance to the mine.

As to be expected, from what they could see it looked dark, desolate, and rocky.

"Oh gee, creepy mine...that's not cliche. Hm, maybe I should redesign the place to be more like Mystic Cave Zone," Amethyst idly wondered, tapping her chin.

"Well, this is just the entrance."

 **~FIRE ON!~**

"We can make more final judgements once we get in deeper. And thankfully, I happen to be a light that won't go out." The Blazing Rider jumped right into the hole in the mountain.

Amethyst shook her head good naturedly, before gliding down after him.

The two made their way through the artificial cave, watching their steps as to not cause a cave in.

It was fairly straightforward; there were no twists or turns at all. And they soon found the reason why.

"That is the oldest elevator I've seen." Starrior stated as they looked at the rickety old thing at the end ot what they now knew was the first floor.

"Hm… think it still runs?"

"Only one way to find out," he replied, and the Princess pressed the down button. The doors of the mining elevator creaked, before gliding to where they were completely open.

"Starting to have second thoughts about using this…" the blonde muttered as they stepped in, pressing the down button and activating the elevator.

"So… how far d'you think this'll go down?"

"Well, I'm leaning towards all the way down to hell," Rhody casually remarked, "Depending on what your Age Rating on this game is."

"Why would I program _that_ in here?! ...Anyway, uh...I hadn't actually thought about that. Um...most of the stuff I put in is Rated E, I think," Amethyst decided, now actually thinking about it. She'd put the thing together mainly for fun, after all.

After a few more seconds, the elevator stopped and the doors creaked open. "Woah…" The two looked at the second floor and were amazed.

Crystals. There were crystals jutting from the walls and ceilings all over, all of them producing a light source.

"Guess I won't be needing this." Starrior deactivated Fire States as he stepped out, walking around a minecart to get a better look at the crystals. "I'd contemplate just touching one, but the last time I did that I got beat on."

"To be fair, you _were_ messing around with a throne room then," Amethyst pointed out, even as she looked around at all the different crystals. "...I wonder what the Royal Family was looking for in here. Magic gems are one thing, but…"

"Well, only way to find some sort of answer is to keep going." By the sound of his voice, Rhody still didn't sound happy about that incident back at the castle _at all._

"Right, um…" Amethyst observed some of the deeper mine shifts ahead of them, then looked back at her wings. "...This might be a problem."

* * *

 _Elsewhere..._

"I really wish I was capable of dashing in a Biometal body sometimes," X said in worry as the two Biometals neared the castle.

Harpuia didn't quite get that, but then again, he was faster than any of the others, even as a Biometal.

 _'The only reason I haven't reached the castle by myself yet is because I can't simply just leave Master X behind like that, especially when he is worrying about his new Chosen.'_

On that note...

 _"...By the way, Master X. I am curious about your new Chosen. I didn't exactly have much time to get a good measure of him last time,"_ Harpuia noted.

 _"Hm? Well, what do you want to know?"_ X asked curiously.

 _"I merely wish to know what kind of person he is. I know you trust him with your power, but why do you?"_ the Sage of Neo Arcadia questioned.

 _"Hm…to be honest, he reminds me a lot of myself,"_ X admitted as they floated through an open window. _"The nature of a Megamerge means that I can sense his thoughts...and he has a lot of self-doubt. The same kind of self-doubt that I myself have had before."_

"I see…" 'Yes, I remember...Master X has expressed doubts about his actions numerous times in the past.' Yes, Harpuia could understand now why X had lent his power as he did. But...

 _"...But then why does_ Zero _allow him to use his power?"_ he expressed confusion.

 _"Well, I can't speak for Zero, but...maybe he sees the same thing. I'm not sure, but I do know this. I don't know everything about Chris, but he strikes me as someone with a good heart. That's all I can really ask for in a partner,"_ X summarized.

 _"...Hm…"_

"OW!" a voice yelled in pain. It was one that both of the Biometals found familiar to boot.

 _"That sounded like Chris!"_ X realized, floating off as fast as he could in worry.

Harpuia followed, but more sedately. Mainly because the tone sounded more like… _"Err, Master X? I think that he may have simply…"_

But X wasn't listening as he flew into the library of the castle, casting around for his wayward Chosen.

...Who was standing next to a bookshelf, clutching his foot.

 _"Chris, are you okay?!"_ X asked as he floated up.

Chris paused for a second, before turning to look at him, doing a double-take. "X? How did you get here?" he asked with wide eyes.

 _"I managed to get a lock on the Bio Adapter from back in the Nexus, then got Harpuia to narrow the search. But what about you?"_ he quickly inquired.

"Um…" Chris looked at the heavy atlas on the floor. "Other than dropping a book on my foot, I'm fine."

 _"I tried to tell you, Master X. He didn't sound as if he was in danger,"_ Harpuia mentioned as he floated in.

 _"So you are Master X's new Chosen then,"_ he observed, looking at Chris.

"Uh...yeah. I guess we didn't really...get a chance to, uh...talk properly before," Chris mentioned awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

And speaking of awkward, there was a bunch of awkward silence as the three tried to figure out what to say next.

 _"...So, uh...where's Rhody and Princess Amethyst?"_ X wondered, looking around.

"Huh? Oh, uh...Amy was, uh...curious about what her connection to this world was, so they went to go investigate this old mine the royal family was using…"

Harpuia observed Chris's...reticence in speaking, for lack of a better term.

 _"It is...Chris, correct? You seem...slightly distressed,"_ he noted.

Chris's eyes widened slightly, before he averted his gaze, picking up the atlas. "Oh, um...it's nothing. I'm just being silly."

 _"...Chris, if you're not feeling well, you can just say so,"_ X said decisively, sensing the mood.

"...I...I guess it's really two things really. On the one hand, I…" He took a deep breath. "I just feel...useless sometimes. Like...I just can't do anything to help anyone," Chris admitted. "I haven't felt it as much lately, but...well, it just hit me full blast earlier. I'm entirely dependent on you guys for power, as opposed to the others, and well...they showed up transformed and I didn't."

"And...I guess the second thing is really...I'm mad at Aeon...Rhody," Chris sighed. "I just don't feel like he's taking the whole thing seriously enough...ever since he got the Starrior Driver he's been...being a slight jerk. There was the thing on Angel Island when he was fooling around and knocking me off of high places. And then earlier, we ended up in the _sky_ and he complained that Amy grabbed me first even though, not being transformed, I would have gone splat!" A rising crescendo of anger formed in his voice, as he made a sweeping gesture with his arm to symbolize the splat.

But then he deflated. "But...we're friends, or...I want to _believe_ we're friends. I don't want to be mad at him, but…"

 _"Have you ever thought that that's just how Rhody is with his friends?"_ X asked.

"But why would he get upset about me being saved from something I couldn't possibly survive on my own? Why would he deliberately trip us up when we were in the middle of a time-sensitive thing like we were on Angel Island? I…" Chris shook his head and looked to the side.

 _"Chris, you have to understand that that is just how some people are,"_ Harpuia began his piece, _"I cannot tell you the number of times where Fefnir has done worse than what you're saying Rhody has done."_ Actually, he could, but that was beside the point. _"Does that excuse what he's done? Probably not, but I don't think that it should be something that jeopardizes your friendship with him."_

"I...I dunno, I…" Chris sighed. He knew that the two of them were trying to cheer him up, but…

...They were Reploids. As human-like as they were, they still weren't exactly the same as humans. Their mindsets still differed in some respects. And…well, it looked like there was only one thing he _could_ do right now...

"...I guess I just need to talk to him about it."

 _"Communication is the best form of keeping things together."_ If X could nod, he would have at that point. _"For now, I think it's best to catch up with the others. For all we know, they could either have found what they're looking for or have gotten into trouble"_

"Err...right…" Chris nodded. Though, even if they did get in trouble, they'd probably be able to handle it fine.

* * *

"I freakin' hate rocks!"

Things were simple enough at first for the Princess and Rider. They made it into the mine and with some effort, got Amethyst through the tight corridors.

And then rocks started to fall on them.

"GRAH!" Starrior smashed his fist into the boulder, shattering it. However, just then, a duo of rock wolves leapt at him.

Falling rocks was something they could deal with.

Rocks that formed into animals was something else.

Amethyst was having her own trouble. She couldn't fly right now given where they were, plus there another problem.

Her magic was blasting the rocks to pieces, but they just kept reforming!

The constant exertion was...actually making her a little dizzy.

"Come ON! Go...away…" she said, clutching her head and swaying slightly.

Of course, the rock creatures weren't going to listen to her.

A rock tiger formed, and pounced at her!

Her eyes widened. Not wanting to expend too much more energy, she materialized her blade and slashed the rock beast in twine!

Her blade had caught something as she brought it forward. Whatever it was clattered down, revealing itself to be... "What the… a gem?" Why hadn't that been cut in half along with the rock? _'I'm pretty sure I swung hard enough.'_

Rocks started to shudder and then moved to cover the gemstone!

"Rhody!" the Princess yelled, "these things have Gem Cores! You have to destroy them!"

"Easier said than do-!" Several rock animals dogpiled on Starrior.

"GHH! Get off!" Inside the pile, a Rock Wolf bit down on the Driver, causing Rhody's eyes to widen behind his helmet. "Big mistake!" He used a free hand to force the rock creature to bite down harder, and both its head and the Starrior Driver began to glow!

Starrior forced himself from the pile, but his legs were still covered up. He activated a new Switch, brown in coloration and a grey stone fist on top of a button, by hitting the fist, thus hitting the button!

 **~STONE!~**

And inserted it into the Starrior Driver, replacing the Fire Switch!

 **~STONE ON!~**

The coloration of Rhody's armor changed from pink to a grey, brown stones formed on his lower legs and upper arms, turning into large imitations of hands and feet. The light blue triangular visor changed into a five-piece rhombus gem-like design, with the outer sections colored in purple, the inner colored in red, and the center piece in orange. Twin horns jutted out of the helmet, which was now looking very rocky as well.

"Let's see how you like my Stone States!" The Earth Warrior lifted his legs and flung some of the rock beasts to a wall. Now on his feet, he rushed forward and smashed right through into the Gem Core. Still intact, he lifted a foot and stomped.

Then again.

And again.

"Resilient, but still shatterable," Starrior growled a bit as he made sure the Core was ground up.

"Seriously, does that belt of yours have any limit to what it can copy? I mean, I know it's based on Kirby and all, but..." Amethyst questioned.

Rhody merely shrugged as he blocked a bite from a rock panther with his stone hand. Amethyst sighed and then sliced the creature apart, then focused an extra hard swing at the Core, splitting it in two.

But as she did so, she gasped as her energy seemed to leave her all at once. Her hair darkened completely back to the auburn it was before, the extra armor and butterfly wings disappearing as she fell to her knees.

Amethyst had reverted to her normal form...and was exhausted.

"Amy!" Starrior leaped over, bashing a rock creature away.

She panted out, tired and not being able to understand why. "O-Okay...I...am really tired right now," she let out, trying to prop herself back up with her sword.

"Crap. We don't have anything to fix that," Rhody muttered, even as he took up a guard position over her. He was running through his options.

 _'I could probably combine one of the Switches with Stone, but I don't remember all of their functions… Fire plus Stone equals Magma Rock Cannon. Useful for offense, but I don't know how long that'll last me before I exhaust myself. Spark plus Stone…'_

He held up the Spark Switch and replaced the Sword Switch in Slot 1!

 **~SPARK ON!~**

The grey changed to Spark's light blue and all the rocks on Starrior exploded off his body, gathering into a large stone sphere linked to him with electricity. He grabbed the "Lightning Tether" and swung the flail at a creature, the boulder exploding!

"Heheheh! It's payback time, you clods of dirt!" He let more Lightning Tethers shoot from his body and hit a rock wolf and tiger, and then proceeded to use the creatures as weapons against the other monsters!

"You're enjoying this a bit too much, you know that?" Amethyst said rhetorically as she was catching her breath. Though she's pretty sure that he didn't hear her due to the constant cackling.

"Eheheehehehee~! You're all deeheheheaaad~!"

"...Starting to think that I should keep an eye on him."

A rock wall began to rumble, causing both to stare.

"Oh, more 're comin', eh?" Starrior cracked his fingers. "Bring it on, then!"

* * *

Chris continued to trudge through the forests of Gemworld, on his way to the mine himself. He was also talking to himself, trying to figure out the best way to talk to Rhody about how he was feeling.

"'Alright, dude, we need to'...no, no, that's kinda too forceful." He shook his head. "'Uh...hey, Aeon, can we, uh...talk?' ...No, that's too timid…"

An amused snort was heard from in front of him, causing him to blink. Swiveling around, he saw Amy's Pegacorn lounging around nearby the entrance to a cave. The winged horse wasn't exactly a fan of mines, so had stayed outside when Amethyst and Starrior had gone in.

"Oh, uh, hey. Did you see where the others went?" Chris asked.

 _'...I am talking to a pegacorn. That's not something I ever thought I'd do…'_

Pegacorn chuffed, before angling one of his wings at the cave entrance.

"Alright, thanks-" Chris was cut off when an explosion rang out within the cave.

 _"...Seems they've run into trouble,"_ Harpuia noted.

"...Dang it, you guys," Chris sighed, before they all, save the horse, rushed in.

* * *

Starrior crashed straight through the wall, falling down into a big open area of the mine.

He bounced off the floor several times. "Guh… I regret… everything…"

"Rhody!" Amethyst rushed over as fast as she could given her own exhaustion.

"Well...I can't say...I expected something like that…" she admitted, staring up at the large rock creature in front of them.

Namely, a rock _dragon,_ which roared at both of them, though the roar came out more as the sound of stone grinding on more stone. It fired rocks out of its mouth!

"Hah!" A lightning tether launched at the rocks, but only caught 5. Starrior was buffeted by the rest of the projectiles!

"Ghhk." The Electric Warrior tried getting up. "Of _course_ I have a limit of how many tethers I can launch…"

"It'll be a pain just to get to the Gem Core." The Princess tried looking for any weak points.

Unfortunately, the dragon wasn't gonna stay still. It reared back on its hind legs, before slamming down with a shock wave!

"Oh, what the heck?!" Amethyst leaped to avoid the wave of pure force.

"GAH!" Starrior slammed into a wall, though. "Dammit, why do all 3D bosses have shock wave moves?!"

"It's a cheap way to give a boss an AoE attack without thinking of anything unique!" Amethyst leaped and stabbed her blade into its rocky hide, and continued to try and work her way into its stoney innards.

"Well if it's wanting to dish out damage, then I'll do the same!" Starrior exchanged the Spark Switch for Fire!

 **~FIRE ON!~**

The armor's color changed to red and the big rock hands and feet reformed. Smoke began to smoulder from his left hand, before it literally erupted at the Rock Dragon, magma covering the side of its face!

The dragon let out a gravelly roar, lava quickly eating away at its face at it began to thrash about, making Amethyst grab on for dear life. Boulders began to shed off its body as well, becoming projectiles! Starrior fired off his Magma Rock Cannon in an attempt to shoot down the hazards!

"Freakin'-!" The Lava Warrior jumped away from the pieces that were too large to shoot down. Meanwhile, Amethyst's grip was loosening on her planted blade, but her eyes caught a glimpse of something.

"The Core!" She took her sword and went to stab at the opening!

 **-Tink!-**

And only scratched its surface.

Despite that, the Rock Dragon roared in pain as its body shook, the connection of the rocks becoming unstable!

"Woah, great job, Amy! Now to-"

 **-Splat!-**

"Rhody!" the Princess shouted as she saw her friend get squished by a large boulder.

"Uhhhhhhhgg…" The young man moaned in pain as his arms and legs were attempting to remove the hunk of mineral.

The Rock Dragon shook its head, before stepping forward with a large thud. It was about to attack once again!

And then a large plasma blast blew off its head! ...Though for a Rock Dragon, that was probably only a minor inconvenience.

"...How the heck did you guys find a _rock dragon?"_ Model X questioned as he entered the scene, lowering the X Buster before rushing over to get that boulder off of Starrior.

"Rhody pissed it off," Amethyst said, leaping off the rock monster to collect herself.

"Yeah, I'm starting to regret a large portion of my decisions," Starrior stated, rubbing his sore chest.

"Yeah, uh...probably a good thing for that. You and I need to have a talk later, _buddy_. ...Hey, Amy, you're back to normal," Model X noted, blinking inside his helmet.

Meanwhile, while all the idle chitchat was going on, the Rock Dragon was using the rocky portions of the mine to reconstitute itself.

"We can discuss my power inconsistency later, Chris. We have to blow away a large portion of those rocks to reach the Gem Core."

 _'I think the technical term is Power Incontinence actually, but whatever…'_

"Uh, right!" Model X nodded, charging the X-Buster back up and casting his gaze around the cavern to see just where the best place to get the dragon from would be.

Of course, the rocky beast itself was firing more rocks.

"Woah!" Model X yelped, dashing under one of the large boulders.

"I am getting tired of _rocks!"_ Starrior fired more lava rocks at the boulders, while the Princess goes back to try and hack away at the dragon's hide!

Model X rolled behind a formation of crystals on the ground, charging to Level 2.

"Here, Rocky!" he called, firing the blast at around the midsection of the big rock creature.

He got beaned by one of the boulders Starrior couldn't block for his troubles though, the rock shattering the crystal and slamming into him before the superheated plasma actually hit the dragon, causing it to rear back in pain.

Once again, Amethyst, who was mid-stab, got lifted off the ground.

"Oh come on!"

"Okay, starting to get the feeling that we need to be hitting it a lot harder than we are now." Starrior got up and pulled the lever on his Driver.

 **~FIRE! STONE!~**

 **~LIMIT BREAK!~**

The Lava Warrior lifted up his arm cannon, intense heat beginning to pour out of it before a stream of liquid earth shot out at the Rock Dragon! "Hit it when you see the Core!"

 _"I'd do little here, given the terrain and enemy,"_ Harpuia noted, still floating near Model X. _"You'd best stick with Master X alone for now."_

"Got it!" Model X nodded, dashing over to one of the walls and kicking up it.

The blast of magma melted through the Rock Dragon, its gravelly roars becoming more...gurgly as it melted.

 _"...Gurgly isn't a word, Chris."_

 _'...I can't think of anything else to call it!'_

Anyway, as the Dragon melted away...the gem core was revealed!

Sliding down the wall, Model X immediately began blasting it with X Buster shots!

"Okay… focus… focus…" Princess Amethyst gathered as much of her power as she could spare and focused on the Gem Core. Then, taking aim, she threw her sword like a javelin, coating it with her magic. It struck the Core, the sword getting embedded deep into the crystal!

"Guys! Kick the thing!" Amethyst yelled out, her breathing labored.

"You got it!"

 _"You know what to do here, Chris!"_

Model X quickly kicked off of the wall, twisting X all the way around.

 **M.E.G.A. SYSTEM: OVERDRIVE INVOKE!**

 **ROCK ON!**

Rocks began to move in an attempt to block the incoming attack, only to be blown away by Starrior's Lava Rock attacks!

 **"Rider Kick!"** Model X flew at the exposed core and sword, energy coalescing around his foot.

The kick made impact, and the Gem Core shattered!

The Rock Dragon let out one last gravelly/murky roar...before what was left of its body fell apart into still-melting rocks.

Model X skidded to a halt on the other side.

"Phew!" he breathed out in relief, having grabbed Amethyst's sword as he swept past.

"...So...was that a boss or something you'd programmed, Amy?"

"I didn't really know about the mine, so what makes you think I expected rock monsters?" the Princess deadpanned as she clutched the wall, walking to retrieve her weapon.

"At least that part's done." Starrior thumped onto the floor, and looked to be trying to hug it.

"You coming or what, Rhody?"

"Give me a minute, I just… want to catch my breath."

"Right, well...you and I need to talk after you do, dude," Model X said, tapping his foot on the ground.

The influx of energy the Rider transformation gave him had left him feeling...a lot better. He wasn't gonna let this go if he could help it.

"Uhh…" Amethyst stared at the two, "I'm just gonna go… over here." She walked into a section of the cave so the two could have some measure of privacy.

"Right, you said something about that, what's up?" Starrior asked as he sat up.

"...Okay, so…" Model X hesitated slightly as he tried to figure out the best way to put it. "Uh...I guess the short of it is...you've been acting like a bit of a jerk lately," he decided to say bluntly, crossing his arms.

"Huh?" Rhody just sounded confused at this. "What'dya mean?"

 _'How does he not-?!'_

 _"Focus, Chris."_

Model X sighed. "Aeon...you remember when we first arrived in Gemworld, right? How we were in the sky?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"...How you were complaining about Amy saving me from going splat?"

"You're actually hung up on that?" Starrior went to scratch the back of his head, only to stop as he remembered he was wearing a helmet. "I can't sarcastically quip at things?"

"You were complaining about me _not dying!_ That's hardly something to sarcastically quip about!" Model X snapped. "And that's not even getting on what you did on Angel Island! Why would you knock me off of a height when we were pressed for time?!"

"..." Model X began to feel heat from Starrior's gaze. "I will admit, what I did back in Angel Island wasn't the smartest thing to do. In fact, it was kind of stupid." He stood up. "but do you really think that I would genuinely joke about you dying? Why would I ever joke about something like that if I the possibility were there? I wouldn't 've said anything if it were a much closer call!"

Model X faltered, looking down for a bit. "I...Never mind, I shouldn't have said anything…"

"Friendship isn't a one way street, Oath," Starrior began. "Like how I have to deal with your depressive spells, you're just gonna have to deal with how _I_ am. I appreciate you telling me if I say something insensitive or if I go too far with a joke or something."

"It's just...it's a recurring trend…" Model X muttered. "Not like an everyday thing...but there's a lot of times you just _say_ or do something that ends up with me feeling bad…" He shook his head. "I...I want to...I want to be your friend, but...sometimes it just gets to me. And that's not getting into…" He shook his head harder, not finishing whatever else he'd wanted to say.

"..." Model X could hear Rhody taking deep breath from his nose, "Not every relationship is a perfect one. We are not always going to get along, there will be points where we just don't talk to each other because one or both of us is angry at the other." He tried rubbing its brow in an attempt to alleviate his temper. "But that can be expected. What can prevent true breakdowns is _communication_ with one another, accepting of each other's faults," Starrior looked at his friend, "and knowing that we still care for each other." He walked up to Model X, and lightly poked his chest. "Communication. _Tell me_ when something's bothering you. _Don't_ let things build up."

"...I've never really been good at it...even if I did get a good grade in that class," Model X admitted. "...And it's not like I don't know that, it's just...sigh, I don't know…"

"Well, Oath, git gud." Starrior poked Model X's chest piece some more.

"...Please stop that."

And Rhody proceeded to keep poking him, only with _two_ fingers!

"...See...this is kinda part of the thing. People don't really...listen to me. At all," Model X sighed.

"Yes, because me trying to lighten the mood is something that you should get depressed about." Starrior hooked his arm around Model X. Who stiffened from the sudden contact, as he usually did when things got physical.

"I...I'm not really depressed…"

 _"...No, but your sugar levels seem kind of low,"_ X noted.

"...Wait, what?"

"Is X psychically communicating with you again?" the Lava Rider asked in a tone that was clear that he was no longer talking seriously.

"Uh...something about my sugar levels being low or something?"

Harpuia mentally raised a brow as he hovered closer. _"I'd have to agree with Master X. Your sugar levels do seem a little low. Not to a dangerous level, but…"_

"...Okay then. Apparently I have low sugar levels right now. Don't know what that has to do with anything…"

"Like, blood sugar? That can really affect how you are, dude. I think those with lower blood sugar are lethargic or something. I know it affects mental states or something…"

"I...really don't think that has anything to do with anything. I'm probably just being dumb…" Model X said in a tone that said something along the lines of having had the mindset of 'It's your own fault, stop making excuses.'

 _"I...strongly doubt that,"_ X said dubiously.

"Right, so you need to start eating things to build your sugar up." Chris's friend patted his shoulder. "...You have any idea for things to eat other than candy?"

"Sigh...you guys aren't gonna let this go, are you? ...I guess grapes. I like grapes…"

"We won't let go because we care. We will not be like that chick from the Titanic movie."

 _"...His thought process is rather...out there. Rather reminiscent of Fefnir, now that I think of it,"_ Harpuia stated as he stared at the strange young man.

"...Okay, if you guys are talking about the Titantic, then…"

"Don't make me hold yer hands, bro. I will."

"Hey guys, I think I found something!" Amethyst's voice rang out.

Both Riders blinked, their little thing interrupted, before they went to investigate what she meant.

* * *

The three walked forward to the glowing gemstone that caught the Princess' attention. It appeared to be a piece of red corundum. A ruby, in other words.

"Can you guys… feel the heat this thing's emitting?" Amethyst asked, seemingly captivated by the ruby.

Starrior stared at her, heat radiating into his suit thanks to his lava cannon. "...No."

"...How about you turn the lava off and check? I can't even tell because of that thing…" Model X mentioned.

"You're just jealous of my sick lava weapon."

"I _am_ , as a matter of fact, but now's not the time." _'Ack! I shouldn't have said that!'_

"Ohoooo~! You admit-Amy what are you doing?" Starrior stopped his teasing when he caught Amethyst walking to the ruby in his peripheral vision.

Amethyst was still transfixed by it. "It just...feels so warm…" she whispered, reaching out to touch it.

"Hey, Amy," Starrior began to reach out to his friend, "I really don't think that's a good idea-"

But by the time he started, Amethyst had already reached out from the octagonal gem...and then she immediately lit up.

"Gah, what the heck?! Bright lights!" Model X yelped, covering his eyes.

"I FEEL IT BURNING MY RETINAS!"

Meanwhile, within the light, the amethyst gem in the Princess's necklace flashed, before turning into energy and zooming into one of the heart-shaped gems on her hips.

The ruby floated forward, before moving into place on the necklace itself, a new transformation occurring!

Flames ignited on her feet, moving up her body. Her footwear changed from heels to actually boots, and as the fire swept up all of the purple turned orange. As it reached her midsection, parts of the cloth burned away to expose her midriff. Her shoulder pauldrons also vanished as the flames spread down her arms. And as it reached her head, her hair deepened into something very unmistakably _red._

And to top it off, her wristbands, shoulders and tiara all ignited, flames sprouting from all of the aforementioned locations!

As soon as it was over, the light died down, revealing Amethyst's new form to the others in the cavern.

"Amy! Where are you?! Everything's so dark!" Starrior was on his knees, looking around in the opposite direction of where his friends were.

"Ow, ow, ow…" Model X tried to rub his eyes, but his helmet got in the way. However, when he saw the change himself, he blinked. "Uh...woah."

"...Huh? What just-WHY AM I ON FIRE?!" Amethyst shrieked as she noticed the flames coming from all over her.

"Wait, she's on fire?! Oath, put her out!" The Lava Warrior turned to ask his friend.

 _"...Should we tell him he's talking to a rock?"_ X asked his user.

"...You're talking to a rock, dude. Uh...try putting Spark in to see if it fixes your vision? I dunno…" Model X said faintly, his attention split between Amethyst and Starrior.

Meanwhile, Harpuia floated up. _"Hm...to think that that gemstone could completely change her form like that…"_ he murmured.

"Okay, okay, trying to calm down." Amethyst was taking a few deep breaths, though they were noticeably quick. "R-Rhody, let me help you-"

"No, don't touch me, you're on fire!"

"And you're using Fire right now, what's your point?" Model X lightly snarked to himself under his breath.

"I'm not completely on fire!" she sighed in exasperation, putting her hands on her hips. But it was about then that she noticed something was… missing.

She glanced down at herself, then shrieked at the fact that her midriff was exposed. "CHRIS, DON'T LOOK AT ME!" she desperately shouted, trying to cover herself up.

"Gah! U-Uh, right! Turning around!" And so Model X swiveled around, realizing the exact same thing.

It was even worse from his point of view because of his mental age. He didn't want to be a creeper!

"What are we not staring at?! Someone explain things to me!"

* * *

 _"Amy, I didn't take you for the type to wear this kind of clothing,"_ Zero deadpanned as the group returned to their base of operations in the Nexus.

"Zero, I am _literally_ _on fire._ Please don't start," Amethyst said flatly, a twitch developing in her eye. Pegacorn, who had followed them out of Gemworld, gently nudged her side in comfort.

Zero snorted lightly, before glancing at the other humans in the room. _"...What's with him?"_ he questioned, seeing as Chris had yanked Rhody in by the arm.

 _"He has apparently gone temporarily blind from the light given off by Princess Amethyst's new transformation,"_ Harpuia mentioned.

"I'm guessing this place doesn't have any eyedrops? Doesn't seem like something robots would have on hand."

 _"We could probably go to buy some. There should be some merchants from one of the Final Fantasy Universes that sell them."_ Those cure Darkness, and it sounded like he was under something similar.

"I'm not stepping outside until I figure out a way to change back." Amethyst was abundantly clear on that, that's for sure.

Chris sighed, hanging his head. "I'll get it then...err…" Then something else occurred to him as he dug out his wallet. "...I don't have any cash, and I'm not sure using my credit card here would go over well. For one thing, my parents would probably kill me."

He proceeded to glare slightly at the snorting Pegacorn. The winged horse was inordinately amused by that for some reason.

 _"I have some Munny in here. I'll show you."_ X floated in the direction to where he kept his funds with his Chosen following.

Meanwhile, Zero floated over to his own Biomatch. _"Alright, let me see if I can help out. Explain how the transformation came about so we can see what options we have."_

"Okay, so we were in my game...err, Gemworld, and we went into this mine. After beating this Rock Dragon thing, I found this ruby. I touched it, and then this all happened...and I accidentally blinded Rhody," she admitted sheepishly.

 _"Alright…"_ His optics ran over her form, picking out the differences between her current, butterfly, and original form. There were a lot that changed, but one thing stood out. _"Your gemstones, they've all changed. Including the one on your necklace."_

"Wait, what?" Amethyst blinked, looking at all of them. All of them had become rubies, exactly the same as the one now sitting in her necklace.

"...I _think_ this is the ruby I touched before," she noted, poking her necklace.

 _"If that's the case, then where did your other gem go?"_

"Uh...oh! It's in my inventory!" she realized, the amethyst gem flashing out into her hand.

 _"There you go. Just replace the gem with the old one."_

"Okay, let's see…" Amethyst fiddled with her necklace, popping the ruby out of it and putting the amethyst back in. She was enveloped in a flash of purple light... before returning to normal!

 _"There you go."_

"It's still completely weird that this ruby was able to do all of that," Amethyst noted, holding it up to look at it properly. "Guess I'm just left with more questions now than I had when I started…"

 _'...Like...who was even the one who pulled us in there in the first place? None of the townspeople seemed in danger, and the old lady from last time wasn't there…'_

Just then, Chris returned with the Eye Drops, beelining over to Rhody and interrupting Amethyst's thoughts.

"Okay, so...are these supposed to be put in like normal eye drops, or what?"

 _"Yes. Normally, you just break them in your hand and let the magic affect you, but doing it like normal eye drops is more effective."_

"Hurry up and drip them in my eye, I can't keep these things pried open forever."

"Uh, right. Uh...try not to fidget? I mean, not that I'd blame you. Hate getting my eyes dilated, but…" Chris shrugged, before dripping the Eye Drops into Rhody's eyes.

His eyelids twitched a bit at the contact of the liquid. His pupils suddenly enlarged, then shrunk to normal size.

"I can see!" Rhody blinked a few times, then looked around the room.

 _"Right, now that that's settled,"_ Harpuia decided, floating up. _"Master X, I seem to recall that I was about to report where Leviathan was."_

"Hm?" Chris blinked in surprise. Harpuia knew where she was?

 _"Right. Where is she, Harpuia?"_ X questioned.

 _"A place that has no doubt been submerged in a Corrupted Zone by this point."_

 _"Donkey Kong Island."_

 ** _Episode 07 - Fin_**

* * *

 _ **The Aeon Offspring**_ **:** Don't got too much to say down here. Eh. See ya next time, folks!


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